gonna sing my battle cry
by youtrashqueen
Summary: this story follows the life of a human raised among yautja and her struggles to be more than she is allowed to be; peppered with conquest, battles, lessons and finding herself.
1. Chapter 1

**hello everyone! this is my first avp/predator fanfiction, so please be nice? _haha_ orz**

 **anyway, this will probably be a short story, i don't know yet, but i know where to go with it for a bit, so this is just a trial run, see if you guys like it or not;** **if i get positive feedback, i'll definitely continue and update it, thus, please please please review, comment, follow and whatever else you want, i like feedback!** **obviously i don't own the avp universe and all, just my oc and here's hoping you'll like her too!**

 **italic = english**

 **normal = yautja**

 **bold = anything else**

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Patience was the best suit a hunter could wear when faced with worthy prey. It was an incredible feat to learn its patterns, their habits; deliciously enticing to watch every small reaction, deducing easily how they would end up at the end of your spear, the many possibilities, just technicalities. The predator prowled, observed, memorized, perched upon gnarly and thick branches, moving soundlessly, in tandem with its game. Under camouflaged canopy, she leaped from a gargantuan tree and landed swiftly on the jungle floor, knees bent and toes curled as she sniffed the air instinctively.

This particular prey she was after had sweet smelling blood, impossible to not feel the scent of, one that was purple, unmistakable, despite the smells of the wasteland. Granted, its tough hide offered it enough protection so that it was unbreakable, unless you knew of its weak, tender spots under the belly and knees. Luckily, she was one of the experienced hunters that knew the exact points in which to hit the mammoth with rocky reptilian skin, as this was not the first time she brought one down. Many would shy away from such big challenge, however, especially the barely blooded or un-blooded, yet she found it exciting, in a very dangerous, risky, edge of the knife sort of way.

It gave her a certain high. A high of being in complete control of her fate. Of this animal's fate.

Her head suddenly whipped to her right, mask visors looking through the treeline and then over the muddy ground after the rain, having caught sight of what she was looking for. Sure enough, big hooves led that way, a trail of purple drops, slightly foggy from being washed away by the pouring earlier, but still, a very obvious track that would get her to the beast. Like any respectable hunter, she kept her footsteps hidden to nonexistent, preferring the trees and navigating the large sturdy branches that created a whole web of wood above the floor.

Her sharp nails slid over a broken twig, her sweaty skin from the humidity in the air making the huntress shift her stance on her haunches.

She tapped the side of her mask with the tip of a finger, once, twice, until the right vision was set and she could see the creature's body through cold obstacles. She had a clear shot this way, but she refused to use a cannon. Instead, she reached over her back and pulled out her spear, collapsing it with a faint 'shink'. Another weakness of the refakir, the 10 feet large boar-like beast, were the eyes. What not many hunters knew was that a lot of creatures based their very existence on the ability to see, making sight a weakness for any foe or game. As with refakirs, they were large in shape, taking up a lot of space on top of their muzzles, enough to make the perfect target for one that had good aim.

And her aim was flawless.

She took a few silent steps back and twirled the spear over her head, pointing it through the space of brush, trees and branches, eyes narrowing underneath her mask to focus on the narrow slot. Lock. Ready.

These were the challenges that she liked to put herself through.

With a sharp inhale, she launched the weapon.

It was hurled with formidable strength through the air, making a whizzing noise as it surged through the treeline. A howl and a mangled yowl of pain shook the earth underneath her sandals only a few seconds after.

This was her cue.

The female jerked her body into motion, sprinting over roots and through shrubbery, calves burning with the sudden adrenaline rush, towards her trophy.

When she reached the spot of the kill, her mouth quirked in a grin behind the mask.

The aim was true. Her spear struck through one eye and came out through the other. She puffed out her chest with pride at her marksmanship skills, unrivaled by other females and deadly accurate after all this time she had not used them in hunts. Maybe a handful males could do the same in this clan, a few from others. Regardless, this skull was going to hang upon her wall, next to the kainde amedha queen she took down on her chiva.

Yanking her javelin back, she was pleased to see that no damage had been done to the bone, therefore, she should be able to clean it without problems. Time to sever the spine from the head and be on her way.

That was a bit of a hassle, given the hide of the refakir, but after a good hour spent cutting with her disk and ring sword, she managed to get the head secured in a net. Trophy thrown over her shoulder, she began her treck back to the drop ship.

Most didn't know how to react to her. She was a human, after all, but she had been raised by a female yautja from the moment she was taken from Earth, some twenty-four years ago, if she counted correctly, when she was but a blubbering suckling. Her surrogate bearer had told her that she had been born in the camp, to a pregnant soldier female. Probably the result of a romp between comrades, she guessed later in life after her first hunt around a human establishment. At that time, the larger yautja female took pity on the wailing newborn and took her with, back to Yaut Prime, the homeworld.

From then on, her life had been decided. She was raised within their culture, spoke their tongue and ...was expected to become a good obedient eta when the right age hit. But that, obviously, didn't happen. She wanted to be a warrior, like her surrogate bearer was, seeing the respect and admiration the female garnered, witnessing her prowess in the kehrite on many occasions. Above all, she wanted to know the thrill of the hunt, become one of their own, for good. The need to belong won over any shred of self-preservation her human mind still had.

Her determination pushed her through years and years of training under her surrogate bearer, a female that sired many successful hunters and the best their clan had to offer. Sir'ai wasn't just her, ineloquently put, mother, but her mentor as well, and that served her well throughout the years as she made sure the little girl knew everything she was privy and not privy to, given her species.

Sir'ai was, after all, their most prolific of female hunters and warriors, that joined males on hunts when she was feeling like it, one of the few that returned from her generation's chiva, with ten ooman skulls, a kiande amedha queen skull and many other drone skulls. Her scars spoke of her glory and she was sought after throughout the mating season, not that many males managed to get close enough. Nobody dared to question her decision to train an ooman their ways, nobody dared to question her motive for adopting the suckling either.

Sir'ai had many other daughters, but each of them chose different paths. Some became priestesses to Paya, other served the politics as advisers to the matriarch on the homeworld, some chose to become healers, but none wanted the hunter's path. When the four year old human voiced her desire to be like her, the yautja female was both surprised and delighted with her spirit, but that didn't make her any less severe through the training sessions or the teachings.

After her first hunt, at the age of nine, the human managed to rip herself from the strings of a fate she didn't want. She took her chiva at the age of sixteen, following many hunts in-between from which she took plenty of trophies, yet the ultimate pride of her bearer had been when she returned home with a queen's skull and five human skulls, her own people; that was a very decisive moment in her existence. From that point on, the human girl became a sain'ja, blooded and with mating rights, something unheard of, but not impossible, as she was blessed in her path by the Matriarch when her special case was presented to the regal eldress.

It didn't mean that they liked it and there were no yautja males interested in mating her anyhow, but it was the knowledge that her sweat, blood and tears got her so far which was reward enough. The yautja were cruel but honorable, and her strength, determination, prowess, were undisputed.

From her chiva on, many had tried to challenge her, disbelieving that an ooman could have done what she did and she proved them all wrong in the kehrite, when she painted her face with their blood and made fools out of them. It took her at least four more years to make her role in their society known and set it in stone for them all to understand. Many kv'var followed after her trial and she joined without question, managing to impress warriors and elites in her wake with how efficient, dedicated and strong-willed she was. While she could never compare to the strength of a yautja, she could definitely bring one down using their own weight against them, her agility, flexibility and wit, no matter how graceful and quick they were.

And all of this was fine. Seven years had passed, she was now an adult female by human standards and hunting was all she came to know, it distracted her and kept her on her feet, because she didn't know what to do with herself otherwise.

"Ooman return," a trill to her right made her pause for just a second, to glance at the male yautja dragging his own trophies in his net, mask angled in her direction as he chittered with amusement at seeing her come out into the clearing. He was green as a leaf, with areas of lighter shades around his stomach, his chest, inner thighs and arms. Marc'te, one of the few that returned with her from the chiva, her hunt brother, was always having a good time at her expense, calling her human instead of the name she had been given by her bearer, simply because he hardly tolerated the idea of pyode amedha fighting and hunting side by side with him.

"And so do you, granted, with a less impressive trophy," she was quick to retort, marching at a faster pace towards the ramp of the dropship. She could hear a growl and rapid clicking behind her and knew she struck a chord, but she also knew that he wasn't foolish enough to challenge her, not after what she had done to him all those years back in the kehrite. He was one of those disbelievers, that thought they could actually one-up her, humiliate her for the species she belonged to; prove everyone that she was prey and prey was weak.

She took her seat as soon as she walked inside, tying the net ends to her belts and leaning her head back into the headrest to rest the muscles of her neck. It had been a fruitful hunt, this one. The rest of the trophies she gathered were up on the clanship, in her own quarters. Another good year and good results that her bearer surely will be proud of.

Her eyes closed and she crossed her arms over her chest plate, inhaling deeply and exhaling with an air of relaxation. The young bloods under her mother's tutelage would love to hear about her new scars, and the sucklings especially. She smiled at that thought.

After a few seconds of silence, movement began around her and she already knew the other hunters started gathering back to the ship, each with their own skulls.

A close proximity huff that fogged her visors, however, made her snap her eyes open, only to come face to face with another of the large yautja males, the firstborn of the clan leader, Lar'ja. He was named that because when he was born, he was a very dark color, an anomaly in the skin pigmentation among sucklings, bordering on black, earning him the jab from others that he was Cetanu's son in actuality. An omen of sorts, a good sign to his sire and bearer. His hunt brother, R'ka, told her this tale after a few cups of c'nlip in the mess hall of the clan ship, granted, a few years back, when his tongue loosened enough. To this day, he remained a dark color, bordering on an exotic blue fading into a lighter hue around his chest and abdomen, inner arms, legs and center of face.

As he stood there, the many thoughts flashing through her mind, she noticed absentmindedly that he was wearing a more regal type of armor, showing his status and rank among all others, eyes like embers through his now transparent visors of his mask boring into hers.

He clicked in curiosity, angling his face towards the head in her net and then up at her own figure, looking her up and down. Her mask visors were transparent as well and she daringly stared back at him with fearless ice blue eyes, fingers digging into the flesh of her arm. The only motion she made was the tilt of her head, as if in regard to his curiosity with her person.

This idiotic male had sired enough pups to last him his whole life, she knew that much, by how many females he managed to mount, including two of her surrogate sisters, a healer and a scholar. She was there when he came to rut one of them too -that alone was awkward and uncomfortable. He was too close to home for her, so she made it her mission to avoid the attention of this one, even if, during some hunts, it was impossible; he was always involved in them somehow, either by leading the group or being part of it.

"Hulij-bpe pyode amedha," he growled out, straightening up from having leaned down to be level with her and watch her closely.

"Sain'ja." she corrected with an annoyed grunt in the back of her throat. "Nain-desintje-de," the grunt became a growl as she nudged the trophy with a foot, a scoff following soon after at how he had the audacity to even call her a soft meat and a crazy one on top of that, for going after prey bigger than she was, supposedly because she was a weakling in his eyes.

But he just trilled in amusement, cocking his head to the side. The huntress felt insulted by this male, yet she couldn't exactly go against him to show him differently, so she just gave a snort and turned her head to the side, an act of ignoring him as nicely put as possible.

He bristled and puffed out his chest, a step closer into her personal space, until his tibia was pressing between her legs into the seat edge. Apprehensively, he squared his shoulders and she chirped softly, as if apologizing because she didn't want a challenge.

Truly, she didn't. He was one of the best blooded warriors, an elite in his right and she was sure it was taken into consideration to make him an arbitrator. Satisfied with having made his point, the male snarled in one last act of aggression, forcing her to cower in submission, before turning his back to her, a very disrespectful action at which she bared her teeth behind her mask.

"Pauk'de zazin…" she muttered under her breath, more to calm herself than anything else. Before anything else could go down and with all hunters buckled up, the pilot started their ascension to the clan ship. Her mask visors turned opaque, in an act of refusing to let any other see her eyes, but also to be able to rest them, because they hurt after so much time spent alert.

That pompous royal bitch across from her was the third reason why, just because he was watching her as if he wanted to rip her throat out. Did she make an enemy of him by being too brazen? Humans like her should be thankful for what they were able to achieve and she should say her prayers to Paya for blessing her with such a path, but there was that growing fire within her chest, that swell in her belly that made her want to break every known rule and known fact about humans being unable to match to this species when it was obvious that she could.

And if she could, they could pose a threat as well.

As soon as the drop ship locked in and the ramp was down, the huntress yanked herself out of the seat with furious purpose and squeezed her way to be the first off, hauling the net with her trophy back on her shoulder.

"Kali'adah!"

She turned almost relieved, her waist long braids, adorned with rings, clinking as they swayed with her movement. Her shoulder was shook in a welcoming gesture by one of her hunt sisters, coming from another drop ship that docked at the same time as hers, the yautja female taller by one foot, muscular and painted in a beige color with brown stripes down her back and crest. Kali'adah returned the gesture, reaching up and giving the female as strong shake of her arm. "Jac'in."

"Good hunt, mei-jadhi?"

"Sei-i," the female trilled with joy and quickly made to remove her mask, pulling the tubes and detaching it from her face, allowing Kali to see the deep golden eyes behind it. "You? Worthy prey?" the human also removed her mask, alas in a more simple manner, doing the same by attaching it to her hip. "Let us walk, there is much we must talk of," Jac'in chirped, a click in between as she pushed her friend along.

There was a sudden curious chittering behind them, as they made to move, prompting both to look back, only to see Lar'ja staring after them with his mask off. He was watching them with off putting intent, something Jac'in bristled at and pushed Kali onwards again, a rumble in her chest.

"Kha'bj-te males. They cannot even wait for the mating season to officially begin," the yautja shook her head, a gesture so human that Kali couldn't help but mimic. Jac'in was a female that prefered the life of a hunter, much like her, having done her duty and giving birth to twenty sucklings in her lifetime before she retreated completely from the mating rituals. In fact, the female owned a human servant, a woman called Amelia, that she was incredibly fond of and grew attracted to beyond the comprehension of others.

It was from Amelia that Kali knew most things human, her native tongue and the swears that came with it. Apparently, the woman had been with the yautja since she was fourteen, passed from master to master, which is how she learned their language. Jac'in often asked Kali trivial questions about how her body worked, how her eyes could see, mostly because she was embarrassed of asking this of the servant female. It was really heartwarming to watch them interact and see how Jac'in protectively strayed no far than a foot away from Amelia.

She was her savior, after all.

"Will you participate in the mating season this rotation? I see you have gained another worthy trophy to hang on your wall," it was an innocent question, but it had Kali tense and hold the net tighter in her calloused hands. "I don't believe so. Even if a male, voluntarily, genuinely, would be interested in rutting me simply for the exoticism of pauking an ooman, I am not able to have sucklings. Besides, I do not think I wish for only that…" Kali paused in the hallway towards the lift, glancing up at the yautja female "...I yearn...I feel like I would wish more than…" but she stopped before going further. Feelings were lost on yautja and they mated each year simply for reproduction, life mates were rare and few inbetween, Jac'in's emotions were an exception, but even so, she was reluctant to say more.

They were non-monogamous, after all, they found different partners every season and only the most worthy of males could breed a female of their choosing. Generally, females could also choose their males, and fight other females for mating rights, but in the end, it was all about having the strongest pups.

"Ki'sei. We live the same, but we are different, mei-jadhi," the two stepped into the lift, among three other yautja males. "It is no shame to admit to that," the female continued, glancing down at the human huntress.

"It is for me. Thar'n-da s' yin'tekai is all I must know…"

Jac'in lowered her gaze in thought, her tusks clicking together. For the rest of the journey, they both remained silent, until they reached Kali's chamber, a few rooms down from Jac'in's own. Despite the female yautja's previous words, they had barely scratched the surface of having a conversation, but there was enough time for that. Jac'in nodded to her friend curtly "N'dhi-ja." probably sensing that the ooman was in no mood to converse further.

"N'dhi-ja, Jac'in."

While her hunt sister was returning to someone within her room, Kali returned to no one, only the empty and clinical smell greeting her as her doors slid open. Placing her palm on the screen by the doorway, she had them close and lock for everyone that tried to bother her, even though, she was aware that not many would. It was time to clean her new trophy and put it up on her wall, among all the others.

For a yautja, loneliness was never a problem, they weren't social creatures, they didn't need to interact on a daily basis or be in each other's presence at all times, but with humans, as Kali discovered, loneliness was a funny thing that made her feel the oddest stirrings. She sighed to herself and dragged her feet to the middle of the room, eyes moving over her suspended hammock, layered with pelts, then to the table at the far end, a spectacular view of the space stretching from one end of her room to the other, in an elegant arch. Her trophy wall was actually just a wall of the room, a depression in it to be specific with a desk underneath for her cleaning kit, not a separate room like the quarters of other hunters. Then there was the small bathroom, not accessorized with a bathtub like most of the others, but with something resembling a cubicle and something above that had water sprinkle down on the occupant.

Was she treated equally now that she was a hunter and held a rank above a lot of them? No. There were discriminations, there were a lot of suspicious stares and sneers when she walked around, mellowing with the years mostly. She didn't respond to them unless challenged directly, because that was their way and she respected the honor code like nothing else. The proof of inequality was her room, in fact. Much smaller and fit for an eta, with very few pluses here and there, like the existence of a trophy wall. When she ran out of space, she started spreading the skulls all over the room, a few above her hammock and some around the other walls.

They thought she didn't need a big place for them because she was lesser and surely not able to fill one. Boy, were they wrong. Jac'in was often amused by this, even suggested making a request to get a room worthy of a warrior of her rank.

After her deeds, she should have been named an elite, by what her friend told her, considering the hunts she went on and the number of trophies she gathered; she was eligible for the trial to become one as high in rank, yet...she was human, the only defect that made her seem incapable in the eyes of the elders.

It wasn't as if she went and demanded she be included either.

Truthfully, she learned to be satisfied with even this. This was comfortable and familiar. Besides, this was better than eta, than slave, than pet, than anything that other humans were for the yautja on the homeworld. She had considered taking a male human as servant or...or pet...but then she felt filthy. This wasn't her and she stubbornly kicked that idea from her head. No, she didn't need males of any species. Fuck the mating season.

...

Much later, in the mess hall, Kali shoved her way through muscles and testosterone, taking her share of meat and greens before she sat down at one of the far-end tables. Usually the best of the elites and blooded clustered into the center, sharing stories of their adventures and hunts and making too much noise for her liking. Among them was, of course, Lar'ja, R'ka and all the other pairs of biceps, chittering loudly and clicking with excitment.

Probably talking about what females to bend over as soon as they touched ground. When they would arrive, it would be one day away from the official beginning of the mating season celebrations. That meant a lot of musk flowing around and a lot of rutting happening virtually everywhere.

And Kali was not looking forward to that. The tension in the air was already getting higher, every male and female waiting in anticipation. Many already started sniffing around and showing intention here and there, but females were relentless, they would shut them off in the next second.

Absentmindedly, Kali traced the new scar on her shoulder, all while munching on a piece of purple meat, eyes staring blankly at the food on her tray. Her body was full of scars like that one, something that males found extremely arousing in females, but not her, never her. She was human, no matter how strong her body was, no matter how many beasts she conquered or how many scars she showed with pride. It was that kind of thinking that also made Kali stray away from even considering a yautja in the first place. Besides, their mating was something to be desired. Short, hard and painful.

Yeah, she wasn't exactly enchanting the idea. Amelia told her why she felt so against it, because it simply wasn't in her nature to submit to that kind of 'rutting'. Humans weren't made for that.

That made her think of one incident in her early days, when a yautja male breeded a human slave in public, out of desperation to end his heat, having been rejected many times, defeated and with no option left, he preyed on the weak servant. The female's body was broken and mangled, dead, obviously, and thrown out like she had been nothing but trash. The most terrifying fact was that...no one stopped to at least push the corpse aside from the middle of the market, they all just stepped over or around her, not sparing a glance. All this happened during a mating season, that's when she understood just how little humans mattered in their eyes, as if they were not sentient beings capable of thought, but only animals to be hunted and owned.

A shiver ran down her spine and she swallowed the hard-to-chew meat, shaking the memory from her mind. No reason to dwell on the past -suddenly, a tray was slid under her nose, startling and making her jerk back; she was almost sure it had to be Jac'in for the briefest moment, until she saw the skin color of the hand, up the arm and then the face. Lar'ja stood there across her table, chest puffed out and shoulders squared, with a tray full of all kinds of meat and naxa fruit, shoved in her face.

What...the fuck? Elites were privy to more food than those of her rank or the barely blooded, so she knew he had the privilege to choose from a wider variety, but this didn't -why was he even standing like that, as if he was putting on a show for her, like he was -

Courting her? Males that wanted a specific female were extremely doting at first, right before the mating season, showing them that they could provide, that they were worthy and then that they had strong genes, that they were potent and strong.

But this wasn't it, was it? This was payback for her earlier misbehaving, this was Lar'ja mocking her, making fun of her, humiliating her by trying to play a cruel joke on her obvious unattractiveness and lack of appeal for the males.

Make her see that she was human. That she didn't belong here. Any moment now, she expected him to just start laughing in her face, call her less than a lou-dte kale, because she couldn't even bear sucklings, his peers joining in on the fun. And it wasn't as if she wasn't used to Lar'ja calling her names and being an asshole to her whenever they happened to be on the hunt in the same group, but this...this crossed a line.

There was silence, eyes on them, faint chittering and clicking from several individuals, but otherwise, eerily quiet. Kali swallowed the knot in her throat, feeling the bite of anger rising in her belly like fire as she glared up in his eyes. It was a crime to kill a honorable yautja.

Her fingers twitched and they clenched in fists on the table, the familiar rage bubbling up through her whole body and she suddenly felt so wronged and hurt and...so fucking angry. She shot up and smacked the tray from his hand, sending it flying on the floor, before she roared at him, back arched and eyes wild with fury.

He didn't see it coming, because she saw his lower mandibles spread out in surprise, yet he had no time to fend her off, Kali had already leaped up over the table and at him, her knees knocking him over a table behind, using her weight on their most vulnerable spot, the neck. She didn't move when she had him pinned under her kneecaps, she glared down in his eyes with wrath as she sat there, one hand gripping a mandible and the other raised with her fingers spread, ready to slash him down, even though her nails weren't strong enough for that. "You find this amusing?! Do you believe I cannot see what I am? I will not accept this insult from you, yautja!"

The firstborn had enough time to process what was happening, though. He clicked rapidly just before he released a deafening roar, effortlessly throwing her off with a strong punch to her side, making her body hit the wall on his left with a crash and grunt from her throat when she made contact. But the human was relentless, she got back on her feet and lunged right back at him, ducking when he tried to grab her and sliding through his defense with an uppercut straight under his jaw. It momentarily stunned him, but it didn't hurt enough to get much out of him other than a deep rumbling growl with a step back. He caught the opportunity, however, using her proximity, to grab her by one arm just as she was aiming another punch his way.

Then he rose her up and slammed her down on a table, breaking it with her back. She let her guard down, Kali chided herself in a second of catching her breath, only to whine at the throbbing of her muscles. Lar'ja stood tall and hostile over her sprawled body, as if he won the game. With disgust, she realized that she was the so called 'glorified win'. However, Kali was not done, she was not going to accept this defeat.

Gritting her teeth, she pulled her body up and stumbled back up to her feet, her muscles quivering. This had to be the most stupid thing she ever did. Not only was she exhausted from training and therefore, not in top shape to consider a fight, but she was going against one of the strongest yautja in the mess hall. With false bravado, she squared her shoulders and set her jaw, standing up to him in the most daring way she knew. He took a step closer to her, but she didn't budge, so he made another, his upper abdomen touching her chest as their eyes met.

This was it. She was about to issue a challenge, shove his shoulder back, when his hand shot up and caught hers in a vice grip before she could seal her fate "Ki'cte, l'ulij-bpe pauk!" did he really call her mad fuck? Her body went rigid, eyes widened and cheeks reddening in embarrassment.

"Ell-osde' pauk!" she snarled as she yanked her hand free, only for his head to lower at her, a snarl rippling through his mandibles. Instinctively, she responded with a growl of her own, not as loud as their species were capable of, but still very much there. The twitch in his muscles, the flare of his mandibles, the tense hostility he emmanated, it made her instinctively raise her hand and place it on his chest as if to keep him back from her personal space, uncomfortable enough with her chest pressed to his abdomen in daring. Her gesture, however, had a different effect. His growl broke abruptly into curious chirping and then a docile clicking of his tusks as his eyes fell on her outstretched arm.

His demeanor changed instantly, because he straightened up, puffed out his chest and let a warbled growl come out of his throat continuously, the vibration going through her arm and body in the weirdest possible way. Kali pulled her hand away immediately and inched away from him as if she had been burned. What the fuck did she do? The sound stopped and he watched her closely, with interest, not another soul making noise around them, all other yautja remaining silent throughout their encounter. Why was he giving her those….those bedroom eyes?

It was as if her mind blanked.

Amazing how she could kill something with her bare hands and spring into action in a second, but when faced with this, she couldn't even form words. A snarl and a growl came from behind her, which she was thankful for, especially when she saw it was Jac'in. The female's body was tense, mandibles flared and back arched, ready to leap in and rip his throat out if he took one step closer to Kali. When Lar'ja clicked and cocked his head, the yautja female marched to the human and grabbed her arm protectively, forcing her behind the large body of the huntress.

One last seething glare at the firstborn and she ushered Kali away in a very angry and incredulous series of clicks and warbled grunts. Kali'adah was foreign to the way the mating rituals happened, she just knew the down and dirty middle of it, didn't care to watch the interactions between a male and female before the whole rutting took place. It wasn't as if those would serve her in the future, therefore, that part of their culture, she didn't wish to know or understand very much. She did know the courting, because males threw their trophies at females and offered them stuff, she knew because it happened to her surrogate sisters. But after that, she didn't know there was an accepting the offer or rejecting it, she just knew that if the male was rejected, the female was going to beat him up, if not, she was going to...well, beat him up regardless, only difference was that she was going to beat him up while his dick was inside or at least trying...to get inside.

Nevertheless, she was dazed and confused when Jac'in walked with her in fast strides through the hallways of the ship, an urgency that made her agitated. "What...what happened...why…" the human female started, unsure how to even ask, yet her friend was quick to reply. "I knew there was something with that pauk'de male, I did not expect him to -"

"To what?" Kali stopped abruptly "Let us continue in my chamber, after I look upon the bruising."

* * *

 **well, hope you liked it! review please!**

pauk'de = fucking

Ell-osde' pauk = fuck you

Ki'cte, l'ulij-bpe pauk = enough, mad fuck

N'dhi-ja = farewell

lou-dte kale = child-bearer

Thar'n-da s' yin'tekai = strength and honor

Ki'sei = i understand

mei-jadhi = sister

Sain'ja = warrior

Kha'bj-te = reckless

eta= servant

Sei-i = yes

Pauk'de zazin = fucking pompous.../ fucking bastard

Nain-desintje-de = absolute victory

Hulij-bpe pyode amedha = crazy soft meat

ooman = human


	2. Chapter 2

**hey hey hey**

 **so this is an update, which will probably happen once or twice a week, not sure just yet**

 **but here I wanted to delve a bit deeper into amelia and jac'in aaand more stuff happens sooo, here you go! pls don't forget to review, I absolutely love hearing from you guys! anyway, normal text is for yautja language, italics for english and bold for anything else. have fun!**

* * *

Amelia was fidgeting anxiously, her big green eyes watching the two female hunters with anticipation as they stared at each other. Jac'in brought Kali'adah inside their quarters, much to the frail servant's surprise, as their room was never visited by anyone since the yautja huntress adamantly refused to have anyone even remotely close to her. The territorial behavior came with the package, she assumed, especially since she started noticing how the alien female sought out her attention and touch lately. She asked her about it, voicing the thoughts that had plagued her, trying to verify if she was indeed going mad.

Jac'in came clean, however, casually telling her how she longed for more than a life of servitude from Amelia and -well, the human girl had been on edge since then. Careful not to glance up at males or other females especially, including Jac'in's human hunt sister, a woman that defied everything that the notion of 'pyode amedha' stood for. Amelia admired her from afar, secretly envied how she could walk proudly, chin up and posture confident, just like her current lover.

Her presence here had to be due to important matters considering the way Jac'in stormed in after having gone to only bring food in their chamber. Instead, she came back with the fearless human and no fruits for their lazy afternoon.

"So I have accepted his…" jade irises snapped back up at the two other females in the spacious room, both sitting at the table on the far end, across from each other. "Yes, I fear so," her beloved spoke clear and loud, making the ravenette cringe in a way that was so human it made Amelia's heart sink with longing for interaction with another of her kind.

When she first met Kali, she was so happy and excited, so different from her usual timid self, until she learned that the woman had little knowledge of human language or social behavior that even resembled that of one. Jac'in later told her of her story, how she had been raised in their culture and how she took their path. Amelia felt angry at first, when she learned how she was stripped of her humanity, how she was not given what she deserved, not given what was hers to begin with. Ripped from her own culture, ways and expectations and thrusted into a cruel and relentless world of blood and survival -somehow, she strived, she blossomed, radiated with confidence Amelia could only dream of, shone with strength, burned anything close to her, like a great star. A faint sigh left her lips and she squirmed underneath the heavy pelts on their bed, her fingers combing through her long blonde braid, adorned with ornaments that Jac'in made for her, in a manner of self-comfort.

The yautja female, having surely heard the soft sound she made, quickly glanced her way, just to be sure she was fine, a heartwarming gesture that Amelia came to adore, before she returned her attention to her hunt sister. "What do I do?"

"You must participate in the mating season,"

"What if I don't?"

"Then you insult his honor because you gave your word, made a promise through your acceptance, you become dishonorable if you do not uphold it,"

"Pauk'de…" the human hunter cussed, placing her elbows on the table and growling deep in her chest. Jac'in clicked her tusks together, thoughtfully. "Remember our ways, mei-jadhi. There are males that perish during the mating act, because they are weak and unable to handle the female,"

"Are you suggesting I should fight him throughout it and hope I get-" but the yautja female placed two of her taloned fingers on the human's mouth. "I am not suggesting anything," yet, the mirth in her eyes said enough. Amelia curled up against the headrest of their bed, keeping the pelts close to her naked body underneath and smiling mischievously at her lover's words.

The subtlety wasn't lost on Kali, because her lips spread in a smile. "Ki'sei."

"Kali," the blonde found herself addressing the other human, with a twinkle in her playful greens "Perhaps you could stay more, tell me of your new trophies. I've already seen Jac'in's," she added, a pretty smile on. The yautja female chirped curiously, allowing her incredibly alluring gaze to pass over her, a look that made Amelia shiver with delight. There was something primitive, a candle that was set aflame whenever she was with the alien, a carnal desire she never felt with men before. "If you are fine with it...Jac'in.." she murmured shyly, fidgeting with her fingers again.

"Sei-i."

At the reply, Amelia grinned joyously and slipped out of the bed, a pelt tight around her figure. "I'll go get dressed and bring the c'nlip!" it has been entirely too long since they spent time like this together.

...

Later, after a few goblets of the favorite alcohol of the yautja, Kali'adah found herself sloppily training in the kehrite, aiming jabs at a wooden dummy meant for young bloods preparing for their chiva. She learned early on that this was a good way of calming her nerves and also getting the intoxication out of her system, as the beverage was rather potent.

At this very moment, most yautja were asleep, their bodies requiring more time to recuperate than that of a human's, therefore most places were barren, other than the occasional patrols through the clan ship's corridors and the main deck. The kehrite was just as empty, allowing for her panting and bare feet moving on the mat to be the only noises echoing the large and spacious hall.

One last snap of the wooden staff and she straightened up, deciding she was feeling better and there was little chance of a nauseous waking after her slumber. In a way, she was dreading returning to her room, but there was no more she could do. Sighing, Kali walked to the left side of the kehrite, where weapons were strung on the wall and placed her staff back in place.

"Kali'adah should sleep as well, ooman or not," the sudden grave voice behind her, accompanied with clicks and heavy footfalls, allowed her to recognize the individual almost immediately. Turning, she met the scorching golden gaze of R'ka, the hunt brother of Lar'ja, standing tall and proud just behind her.

"Cannot, mind is…" she trailed off, looking away from the dark red striped male. "Occupied?"

"Sei-i."

"Busy mind keeps body distracted," he trilled, watching her closely. Him and Lar'ja completed their chiva when she was not even an idea in the making. Both elites, getting ready for their next steps into glory. R'ka was waiting for an approval of his request to become an arbitrator, given he already met all requirements, trophies and background check. Lar'ja was obviously groomed to become the next clan leader, no matter what other side tasks he was taking, the end goal was him in his sire's stead.

Word carried, though, that he was going to push to become an arbitrator, like his buddy.

Kali regarded him quietly, saying nothing just yet. R'ka was probably in charge of the deck for now, directing patrols and overlooking their journey and pilots, while the clan leader and his trusties were resting. It made sense why he was awake and here.

"We meet Tu'jan clan, exchange kainde amedha eggs for fuel and metal." this got her complete attention, her eyes now sliding up over his face as she tilted her head in curiosity. "Was asked to let Kali'adah know she will participate in exchange, chosen by clan leader," he added, clicking his tusks twice, upper tusks stretching in interest.

"Participate?"

"Sei-i. Lar'ja participates as well, R'ka, Bha'stu, Bhu'ja, Ca'sto and clan leader too," he mimicked her and tilted his head to the side as well, his gaze unwavering. Why was she going to be part of the exchange party? And why did they need more fuel? From every hunt, every rotation, they never needed more fuel and the path was always the same. So, Kali couldn't help but wonder what was the change that made them take this detour.

Especially now with mating season on their doorstep.

"Ki'sei," she finally answered with a curt nod. R'ka, however, took a step closer to her and her body tensed instinctively at the close proximity of the male. "Nracha-dte wei-ghe'h, do not think so much," he drawled, eyes gleaming with knowledge and amusement. Kali huffed and glared elsewhere, anything to make the rise in her body temperature stop.

"Respond to the ka'rik'na, sei-i?" he straightened up and squared his shoulders, looking down upon her. "Sei-i."

"N'got."

With that, R'ka remained behind while Kali left the kehrite in a rushed manner. Not only was she curious about why this exchange was taking place, but now she was also jittery about the fact that she had accepted a male's mating request without realizing.

Sleep was going to come slow, she had concluded as she went inside the bathing chamber. Perhaps she was going to be debriefed by the clan leader once she was summoned along the others? It only made sense. Frustrated and annoyed, the human female showered quickly and marched to her hammock, leaving wet footprints behind, before she climbed up her makeshift bed with a huff.

* * *

 **Pauk'de = fucking**

 **Ki'sei = i understand**

 **Nracha-dte wei-ghe'h = relentless female**

 **ka'rik'na = summoning**

 **sei-i = yes**

 **N'got = good**

 **kehrite = dojo/training room**

 **kainde amedha = hard meat**

 **chiva = trial**

 **mei-jadhi = hunt sister**

 **pyode amedha = soft meat**

 **LovyDovy7 - thank you so much for your review! yes, I wanna try a more...brutal approach for these guys, and I'm glad you liked the character already!**

 **Guest - haha, we're gonna have some fem!pred and fem!human too don't worry, amelia and jac'in are gonna be that couple, there are gonna be more angles to these two and their cultures just clashing**

 **write more soon - welp, here you go**

 **alright, please don't forget to review, send me some love in my inbox, fav and all!**


	3. Chapter 3

**felt inspired and wrote the third chapter too**

 **hope you guys enjoy this! that said, please review and message me, it really helps with motivating me to write more!**

* * *

Sleep came in small doses, here and there, disrupted by violent dreams and the sinking feeling of free fall, only to end up on the floor of her quarters. After the third time trying, the huntress gave up completely and remained on the cold ground, until the lights of the ceiling began to turn on slowly, mimicking the rise of the two suns on Yaut Prime.

Blue eyes stared unflinching at the display, a longing to see the real sunrise instead of something so artificial. Regardless, she had to get ready and await the summoning of the clan leader. With a sigh, Kali'adah rose to her feet, supporting her sluggish body by using the side of her hammock. Morning didn't agree with her, especially when she didn't get to rest properly.

This was the first time she was asked to participate in something of such importance and she couldn't help the tingling in her stomach at just the thought that she may embarrass herself or do something wrong, ruin the reputation she built herself along the years.

The Tu'jan clan was known for the human slave numbers they held, either for pleasure or sport when on the hunt. Some had been lucky enough to be used as servants alone and that, she could turn a blind eye to. The Tu'jan were also known for being the first clan to break the taboo that was to rut a female of another species or mate with her. The fruition was obvious, because all the clans took some of that and made it a thing, all in a couple hundreds of years.

It didn't mean humans were better seen now or respected, no pauk'de way, it meant they were easily conquered, especially the females. Kali learned fast that the yautja females despised their human counterparts because of how weak they were, giving in easily and being tame during the mating, but that's what males found attractive, them being docile in bed and out. Naturally, both species' females were vastly different. The female yautja only reproduced once every rotation, while human females did it every moon cycle. Their musk during this period was far stronger and aromatic to the males, more potent than that of a yautja, therefore, it attracted more attention. During this time, as soon as she became fertile, Kali remained indoors, because female yautja could become restless and violent, see her as a threat, even if she couldn't produce pups.

After freshening up in the bathing room, she returned to the sleeping area and marched right to where her ceremonial armor was, looking it over to make sure it was in good condition, before she started on her braids. Normally, she wore her hair in long and thin braids, making it all look like the dreadlocks of a yautja, over which she pulled her rings, testaments to her glory and success, forged to fit only her.

When back in her quarters, she always let the strands loose in order to wash them properly, the raven locks currently reaching the back of her thighs becoming less of a hassle to handle under the water.

Every hunter had two types of armor, the ceremonial one, used only at important events, a symbol of their rank within their society, and one reserved for hunting, dented and usually quite worn, made to be comfortable and befitting the rank as well. Obviously, they cared a lot about making it known who they were and what they were.

The clan leaders had the most intricate kind, long capes of velvet trailing behind their heavy steps, then the arbitrators, each with their own personalized armor, the elders with silver platings, elites with their ornamentally complex ones, the honored warriors, like herself, sporting precious pelts wrung about the d'lex, and the blooded, younger yautja that returned from chiva victoriously and earned their cannons -the young bloods had to earn their armor before the chiva trial, something that was quite hard to do when you were competing with a generation of aggressive teenagers, each intent on getting their hands on metal and be chosen for the respective rotation's chiva.

Carefully, she strapped her belts over her loincloth, then the furs that came around the hips and codpiece, d'lex plates over each hip and pelt hanging behind to the back of her upper thighs. After that, she pulled her breast plate over her covering, stopping right under the bone of her rib and exposing her midriff completely, along with the scars on her sides from her old days in the kehrite. Her thighs were bare, down to right under her knees, where her sandal wrapping started, which, of course, was covered by greaves and shin guards all the way to her ankles. Taking a small inhale, she grabbed the pelt that she wore as a cape, an accessory that spoke of her rank, and clipped it with the top of her breastplate, over which she placed the pauldrons on each shoulder, masking the clipping.

This particular get-up always made her feel proud of her status and how hard it was achieved, it never failed to overwhelm her with strong emotions and deep satisfaction. She pulled the vambraces over her forearms and ended with fingerless gauntlets. This ritual now finished, Kali turned her attention to the wrist computer, synced with the mask on her armor holder, quarters and vital signs. Seeing no signal for any summoning just yet, she simply grabbed the mask and strapped it to her belts, deciding that a meal was in order. "Would be irresponsible to start on a journey with an empty stomach," she hallowly told herself, turning to grab her weapons, two chakram on each hip, the common combi stick and trusty wrist blades.

Okay, now she was ready to officially start this fuckery.

...

The corridors were filled with yautja, all ranks, either coming or going somewhere. The kehrite on the west wing was full and if she had to guess, so were the ones on the east wing and south. All were excited and tense, the mating season coming forth already taking its toll on the males and making the females more aggressive than usual.

Commotion in the mess hall was enough to tell her of a little roughousing going on already, on account of getting in a female's favor, no question about it. Sure enough, as soon as she stepped inside, she was met with three males throwing punches and another knocked out by the door with a broken mandible. Time to become a ghost and just go unseen, unnoticed, until these brutes were out of energy. As per usual, she went to get her tray and the meat she was allowed to get and then dodged her way through sweaty, bulging muscles to reach the very far side of the hall, where an empty table just begged to be occupied.

Not one for the public displays of masculinity, she sat and placed her tray down, indifferent to the fighting and screeching happening smack in the middle of the room. Quietly, she started with her greens, some vegetable from the homeworld, all while checking her wrist computer once more. Nothing. Her mind busied itself again with the reason for her summoning. You would think they wanted to rely on a higher ranking yautja instead of a human, but given the history of that clan and their passionate love for humans, maybe this was just a way to show them that they had the same taste in slaves or whatever? Please them somehow?

Suddenly, a tray was shoved on the table, knocking hers aside with a loud clank and making her inhale sharply at having been caught offguard.

With widened eyes, she looked up at the culprit, finding the masked face of Lar'ja, his skin color the dead giveaway. Kali had half a mind to simply stand up and walk the fuck away, but as soon as she entertained the idea, Jac'in's words came back with a vengeance. Right, that would be dishonorable. She would have to make him believe that she was complying, trick him into letting his guard down for now. Just until she sorted this shit out at least, because there was no way in Paya's name that she was going to be mounted by this degenerate.

Despite the fact that he was wearing his mask, she could feel his gaze on her and not just because his face was angled down, there was a certain tension in his shoulders, a heaviness that made her spine tingle. Very slowly, she looked over the tray he brought, a variety of fruits and meats that she's never eaten before, cut into small pieces as if especially for her to fit them into her mouth and chew without issues. Did he do this for her? He was sure putting effort into this courtship stuff. Maybe he didn't know that humans couldn't reproduce with yautja, but that wasn't possible, right? Well, if playing along got her more delicious food, then so be it.

A short growl from his chest, like thunder, prompted her to pick up a piece of blue meat to chew on, glancing up at him with a scowl directed at his impatience. Seemingly pleased, he puffed out his chest and sat down heavily, just across from her, the bench squeaking under his weight.

Great. He was gonna watch her eat.

Why was he even wearing his mask? Granted, it was less awkward when his eyes weren't visible, but she couldn't help the furrow of her brows at this detail. Wait, his visors were opaque, which meant he was using one of the sights provided by the mask when on hunt. Did he have problems with his vision? Or was he using something different to...see her? Nah, that was a stretch.

Deciding to use this opportunity to find out more about this exchange, Kali leaned her elbows on the table and locked her blues on his visors. The fact that he was the clan leader's firstborn meant that he probably had some knowledge about this meeting between the two clans. "Lar'ja?"

He chirred at hearing his name spoken by her, tilting his head to the side and making his midnight black tendrils slither down his broad shoulders when he leaned forward just a bit. Huh, she almost didn't notice him wearing his ceremonial armor until his elbows came to rest on the table's edge, showing off the gleaming of his chestplate with intricate carvings.

"Why this exchange happening? It never did before this rotation,"

"Fuel. Metal." he crossed his arms and leaned back into the seat, his reply short and vague. Kali huffed and glared away from him, obviously not satisfied with his answer. She picked up and chewed another piece of meat, considering her next question. "Why do we need fuel?" -metal, yes, she could understand why they needed it. On every rotation, they took young bloods and dropped them off for their chiva on game reserves, which is also why they carried kainde amedha eggs. After three days, they went to collect them and thus, becoming blooded, they needed different armor and weapons. But why fuel? They always had the same amount every time and it was always enough for their journey.

"Kv'var."

Hunt? She stopped eating and just looked at him grimly, lips falling into a thin line. They had already finished with hunting this rotation, they went to the same planets as usual, same route as every long hunt and now they had to return home for mating season. If they missed it even by a day or two, the yautja on board would...c'jit, she didn't even want to know. "For?" she frowned and picked up a naxa fruit, piercing the top with her nails and tearing it in two.

Lar'ja merely clicked twice and leaned over again, catching her chin between two taloned fingers, calloused and rough on her jaw. "H'ulij-bpe thwei-te." his thumb pressed against her lips as he drawled that out, every muscle in her body going rigid at his sudden touch. Bad bloods? But couldn't they simply send their arbitrators? She knew they had two on the clan ship…

He pushed his thumb further, talon scraping against her flat teeth and he chirped at the contact, tapping them with curiosity. Was he actually exploring the inner workings of her human mouth right now? Paya, this was obnoxious and offensive. With a warning growl deep in her throat, she jerked her head away, only for him to catch her jaw again to try shoving his finger back in her mouth like a suckling fascinated with a new toy.

She was having none of it. Snarling, she bit down hard on his thumb, the unexpected bite making him lurch back with a choked off roar as he tried to inspect the bleeding digit for the damage she did. "Pauk'de...keep your hands to yourself!"

Before he could retaliate, both of their wrist computers blipped to life, the summoning from the clan leader clear in the message, along with the location they were expected at. Taking one bite from the naxa piece she managed to open, Kali stood up from the table along with Lar'ja and they both left the mess hall, walking side by side through the corridors.

Luckily, he kept silent and his weird ass behavior at bay, something she could actually work with and delight in. They took the elevator to the main deck and proceeded to join the other members already lined up in front of their clan leader. Lar'ja's sire was a very old version of his firstborn, his skin a very dark blue at the edges, turning into ice cold blue and then white on the belly, with splotches of black mingled in the dark blue areas. His tendrils were white, showing his age and his body, while still looking quite strong, could be seen as having aged, figure more slender and movements slower. Despite this, he was an experienced, seasoned warrior that knew how to fight his enemy even without the strength he once held. He had a long black cape draped over one shoulder, a modest golden chestplate covering only one side, inscripted with markings she wasn't sure she knew the meaning of, a codpiece over his hips in the same fashion, trimmed with black fur and sandals that wrapped over strong calves. His larger, sharper tusks were ornated with rings like the many on his tendrils and he had two skulls attached at his belt on his hip; human skulls. Instead of pauldrons, he had yautja skulls, bad bloods surely, and the choker around his neck was made of kainde amedha claws. With all the yautja that were summoned present, they bowed, Kali doing the same under his scrutinizing golden gaze, by his firstborn's side.

"Rise," he commanded in a deep baritone. Just the presence of this male demanded respect and obedience, it made anyone's skin crawl and spine to tingle, which is why Kali'adah admired him enormously. Maybe she was even attracted to him and the way he exuded confidence, and she only saw him a handful of times through her life...and that one time when he held her gaze, back on homeworld, during the festival of Paya when the feast began, was enough to ignite her insides.

She shivered under his gaze, but met it with her own, daringly and boldly, like the young fool she was back then. Her stomach had fluttered and twisted when he remained like that, fixed on her with a predatory glint in his burning coals.

Kali had bitten her lip in desire for the first time in her life then. It was the only time she had ever felt something for another male. But that was all squashed when she came out of her fantasy world, hitting rock-bottom reality with a painful blow to her ego. A male like that would never look upon an ooman, no matter the rank, no matter how strong. It was disgust at herself that squeezed her stomach afterwards, rotten and deep-rooted disgust at how she had the audacity to even look him in the eyes and feel this way.

Regardless, now was different. She had been summoned alongside others to complete a task, ensure the safety of their clan leader amongst another clan and make sure that what they transported wasn't taken from them without the exchange being made. Kali rose up at the same time the others did, keeping her posture confident and taut.

"Come. The transport is ready. We will take a shuttle to the Tu'jan clan ship," R'ka spoke up as the clan leader turned his back with the flare of his cape, towards a corridor to their right. On instinct, the human waited for all the others to follow, so that she would be the last and thus, able to observe them each. Habitually, she did this to learn of her hunt group before every major hunt in which she had to partake with others, to understand where she stood and how to behave around certain individuals. There was a certain scent in the air, something musky, pleasant, but strong -oh. Her gaze roamed the hunters until she saw the 9ft yautja female and the two males staring up at her with purpose. That made sense.

Lar'ja, pausing when he didn't see Kali by his side, turned his head towards her, catching her wrinkling her nose at the display.

His amused rapid clicking made her snap her gaze on him, trailing behind the group as he fell in step with her. His proximity was bothersome. "Mating season affects many," he trilled, trying to start something, but she said nothing as they continued to walk towards the clan leader's shuttle. There was no way she was going to encourage his stupid goodie-goodie act, knowing what the end game he wanted was.

Once inside, everyone knew their own task, therefore, being a lesser rank, Kali marched to the lead pilot seat, where two other yautja were already occupying two other pilot designated seats, going over the indicators and checking the functionality of it. She sat down and the half-moon chair slid upwards and forward, a large screen-like table ascending from the floor right under her fingertips. Kali locked her legs at the ankles and leaned forth, inspecting the transport via hologram, using her hand to swipe over it, make sure it was secure, before moving on to the ship's controls, checking fuel, engines, core, system and weapons just in case.

Various red squares opened in holographic images in front of her eyes, and she located the other clanship with ease, before sending them the courtesy transmission through message that they were ready to leave their own clan ship and would be en route. The estimated time to get there was roughly a cycle, which she could possibly shrink a bit if she really tried, but she wasn't sure the clan leader wanted a bumpy ride through a meteorite belt.

Inserting the exact coordinates and sending them to the other two aseigan pilots, she brought the core's temperature up, before engaging the fuel and starting the engines.

"Preparing for launch,"

Lar'ja stood behind her through this whole ordeal, his own mask angled to the controls and hand settling on her chair's top, the weight added making her glance up at him. What? What was he trying to do? Especially when there were others around like this and...Paya, she could almost feel the female seething at her back.

He should just go mount that one.

Maybe during this trip she could make him change his mind by nudging him towards what's-her-face back there, sitting her ass down and doing nothing...like the elite she was.

"-permission to launch?"

Uh? When did she zone out? Straightening up with his hand still very much...fucking...there, Kali gave the two pilots a curt nod and she could feel a second later how the whole shuttle started thrumming with energy. "We are off," with the hooks out of the way and the large panel open, the shuttle was easy to get out into open space, but as any maneuver regarding docking and undocking, it needed her focus to stay in line. His proximity gave her some kind of comfort, reassurance, but she knew that wouldn't last long. He was just a male looking to rut and she was seen as an easy target, a female that could be easily shoved down and humped. Well, he was in for a surprise. There was no way Kali'adah was going to get mounted in this life.

After what seemed like some more time, the clan leader barked an order for Lar'ja to come join him in his personal chambers for a discussion, which thankfully had him remove himself from her completely. The female left to the transport bay, followed by the two other males giving her longing stares -that meant they would either fuck or get beaten up. Either way, she wanted nothing to do with it. R'ka was the only one left on deck, a presence she could handle being around.

"Mind occupied?"

"H'ko. Focused."

"N'got," there, this was the kind of conversation she liked having. From here on, it was the two pilots that had to handle the journey and in case something happened, alert her, be it a meteorite curtain or any unknown ships heading their way, she was there only to guide, combat and handle critical situations.

A lot more relaxed, Kali'adah leaned back in the oversized seat and sighed her contentment, eyes boring over the holo images of the route and shuttle sensors.

* * *

 **Kv'var = hunt**

 **H'ko = No/Negative**

 **N'got = Good**

 **H'dui'se = musk/smell**

 **H'ulij-bpe thwei-te = word for word it means berserker? mad blood? but i thought it was fitting for bad bloods tbh**


	4. Chapter 4

**hello! bringing you an update! i know it's been waaaay too long**  
 **but life got very busy all of a sudden and...yeah orz pls forgive me**  
 **don't forget to review, bookmark etc. ; u; b i wanna know how many people still like this!**

* * *

The rest of the journey was spent in silence, with R'ka eventually leaving the main deck in favor of checking the transport, he had said, but it was surely to try his luck with the female on the shuttle, a potential mating for the season; while the ooman huntress only left her spot to hydrate or eat, just to return back at the post as fast as possible. Lar'ja was still absent, after so many hours, she assumed he might have went for a nap, as yautjas often did during longer journeys.

With little time left of their trek, Kali relaxed in the seat and closed her eyes, letting the thrum of the engines hum her into a rare state of calm that she fully took advantage of.

Then there was a powerful resounding thud behind her.

She sat up straight and turned with her chair to look, finding the culprit as being a very angry and tense Lar'ja that punched a hole in the corridor wall on his way to the deck. Speak of the dybbuk and he shall appear.

Whatever him and his sire had discussed, clearly had him on a rampage, so that was not a nap he went for, but a long ass conversation with the big guy -though, she was pretty certain that reports and politics wasn't all. Not really looking forward to being around all that scorching fury, she twisted back around to the controls just as he stepped back on deck, heavy footfalls stopping right behind the chair.

Pretending to focus on the route and map solely, she became hyper-aware of how close he was, almost making the fine hairs on her arms to stand up and her skin to prickle at how thick the tension was and how heavy the atmosphere felt. A second pair of steps followed just as heavily onto the platform and it was becoming unbearable to just be there. Apart from the plan of their transport, next hunt, mating season rituals and sharing a cup of c'nlip, she didn't know what had caused the agitation in both males.

Luckily, she could see the clanship through the ship's lower cockpit windows and by the pulsing dot on the holo map, it was clear that the docking procedure was in order. "Asking permission to dock," she spoke calmly, announcing her intention and sending the transmission to ensure a safe, secure passage. When confirmation arrived, she inhaled softly "Switching to manual. Preparing to dock,"

Telling them to brace was out of the question, unless she wanted to insult their strength to withstand any turbulences.

Far be it for her to look out for her peers.

And the whole process was stiff, what with two angry yautja behind her, just emanating fury through every pore on their bodies. The shuttle shook and trembled when the hooks caught it and...well, it wasn't her best ever docking maneuver, but as soon as she was sure they were safe and sound, Kali twisted around and shot up from her seat, pulling her mask free from her belts, ready to put it on just to avoid looking at anyone directly.

Lar'ja, as if sensing her discomfort, inched closer to her, something his sire didn't appreciate by the snarl that came from his throat a second later. Kali froze in place at the threatening sound, her eyes darting between the two males and feeling as if she did something that she wasn't supposed to do. R'ka and the others probably walked out through the cargo bay already and were waiting for the clan leader to leave the shuttle as well, which left her alone with these two.

And Kali was stuck, mask in hands, waiting and holding her breath, as if even the softest breathing sound she made was going to offend the clan leader, ending in her death or banishment. Usually, when she was on piloting duty, she remained behind on the ship, along with the aseigan, unless the reason was a hunt, in which case, she left as well. The lower in rank was always left behind to tend to the shuttle. Slowly, she lowered herself back into the seat in a very submissive manner to please the older yautja, much like a pup would turn its belly up to an adult or show their neck to stop their bearer's wrath at their antics. Lar'ja remained by her, head angled towards his sire and posture hostile as the two seemed to have some kind of silent battle going on.

Finally, the eldest sharply looked down upon her.

"Come, ooman," that stung more than she would ever admit, especially when it came from the clan leader in the form of a disgusted warble. It felt as if all her achievements had been brushed aside and ignored blatantly in favor of her species. Without question, Kali'adah rose to her feet again and slid the mask over her face, hiding her features and the hurt in her eyes. The ramp had already been lowered and the male turned his back to her in a very disrespectful show of superiority, leaving her to trail behind him in silent obedience.

Lar'ja didn't back down, however, he marched right by her side with a confident posture, much like an eager youngblood trying to prove himself in a very bull-headed and bold way to his superiors. What even happened to garner such a reaction from both of them? Maybe his sire found out about his public challenge in the mess hall regarding her, an ooman, maybe tried to talk some sense into him. She wouldn't complain about that if that was indeed the case. The fact that Lar'ja's been off and away during the entirety of the flight made it impossible for her to have 'the talk' with the firstborn, so she could only hope and assume.

"Honorable leader Za'jo of the Etei clan. N'jauka, mei'hswei,"

They were met with a group of seven hunters, six of which were all elites, standing by the seventh with weapons drawn and held up in a guarding fashion. The one that spoke, was a yautja as black as the space, faded blotches of red and brown being the only colors that stuck out against his large crown. His tendrils were oily black where they connected and faded to a dull grey down their length, which was his waist. He donned the same regal type of clothing as their leader, so Kali'adah clearly presumed he was the leader of this clan. By the way he had addressed Za'jo, they also happened to have been hunt brothers. It made sense why the ties between these two clans, Etei and Tu'jan were so strong and remained that way no matter how many clans battled amongst each other. A bond forged through eons of hunting together and passing a chiva together, it was a bond made to endure.

Both her and Lar'ja remained behind as his sire greeted the welcoming party, Kali choosing to stay a stranger, outside of their animated conversation. That is, until the Tu'jan leader chuffed in her direction and made her raise the visors of her mask towards him, but keeping her eyes to his neck in respectful regard, to show that she was no challenge. "An ooman female!" he trilled in a very amused tone. "Sei-i," came the curt reply of her leader. The other high ranking male approached her without the usual inhibition of her clan mates, lowering his large head to be mandibles to face with her.

"Sain'ja?" was he talking to her or asking Za'jo?

After a few seconds of silence, she squared her shoulders and puffed out her chest. "Sei-i," her tonality was strong and infliction without question, no trace of doubt. His head tilted in mocking cognizance at her adopted posture, a body language that was not her own. "Take mask off, ooman,"

For a moment, she glanced to her clan leader for his permission, only to see that he wasn't even looking, instead making small talk with one of the male yautja present in the welcoming party, probably about their transport. Lar'ja, in contrast to his sire, stood by her, unmoving and observing quietly, his eyes fixed upon the older male's head.

Well then.

Reluctantly, she reached up and carefully unlatched the mask from her face, attaching it to her belts, before raising her head and staring forward without blinking, respectfully, again, not making any eye contact with the leader. In exchange, the male snatched her mask from where it had been placed, brushing her exposed skin with a talon in the process, and lifted it to his face, prodding the sides of it with clumsy claws without placing it over his head -that alone was an impossible feat given the size difference of her head to his and the shape alone. Regardless, Kali tensed and bristled ridiculously at the gesture and Lar'ja took a threatening step forward, his arm brushing her hip with the movement.

The clan leader growled deeply at Lar'ja's daring, which prompted the younger male to square his shoulders and fold his mandibles tight. Resuming what he was doing, the yautja finally found what he was looking for and turned to her with the mask a few inches away from his face, inspecting her from head to toe. Kali was unnerved. "Very rare," he suddenly spoke, reaching a talon to her chin and closing the little distance to lower his head. The visors of her own mask were staring right into her eyes, opaque, taking her colors, her shapes, her features, in. The chattering stopped and Za'jo was now watching the interaction just as intently as his first born.

Kali was frozen, not knowing how she should act as she kept stiff, muscles rippling with the tension under her flesh as she was blatantly studied. Figuring it was enough, the eccentric male shoved the mask into her chest, letting her know he was done with the scrutinizing, before he returned to his old hunt brother.

"Come, Za'jo, come," he had turned his back to her disrespectfully, just like her clan leader, not that she could do anything about it. Lar'ja nudged her side and she was brought out of her thoughts, snarling at the firstborn for how he found it alright to touch her whenever he pleased.

She needed to put her foot down.

Her surrogate mother would have ripped his head off with only her mandibles if he would have tried this with her -or any other yautja female. He comically lurched back from her as if he weren't expecting the reaction and then chittered his annoyance with various warbled clicks. "H'ulij-bpe," this was beginning to grate on her nerves, him calling her crazy every damn time he did something stupid and she bit back. One deathly glare later, Kali had placed her mask back on and followed after the two clan leaders and the many guards trailing behind, Lar'ja still hot on her tail.

What exactly made him want to try courting her? One could only wonder. Did he exhaust the worthy females in the clan? She knew for a fact he rutted some outside the Etei clan too, so did the galaxy run out of strong yautja females?

Paya, this was the most inappropriate time to let her mind wander.

Huffing, she marched forth, with a bit more speed than previously, as to leave the irritating male behind. However, when the guards began giving her funny looks, she lost some of the pep in her walk, falling back in line with the elite.

...

Apparently, the Tu'jan clan leader prepared them a feast, in a very...odd mess hall, in Kali's eyes that was. By odd, she meant the many human female occupants, lounging on luxurious cushions covered in pelts and pillows made of silk and feathers, adorned in jewelry and fine furs, half-naked and all. There were various depressions into the floor all around the massive room, in which many yautja males and females indulged in the company of...human servants, slaves, pets. Whatever they were.

What struck her as odd was how well looked-after they were, how clean, how well nourished and clothed they were, looked. Many of the females were a little overweight even, clearly enjoying the lifestyle on the ship, dressed scantily and caressed by their...lovers? Even Za'jo was clearly disgruntled by what he was seeing, which meant that he was not expecting this kind of depravity either. "Ci'tde, what is the meaning of this?" their clan leader finally spoke, observing some exchanges as they walked deeper inside, passing by small duos or trios.

Ci'tde, the Tu'jan leader simply snorted and shook his big head, tresses slapping his back in the process "New era," he replied easily. This clan was known for their eccentricities, but never to this degree, they practically co-habited with humans now. That's how many they were. Kali was wondering, however, why she was walking with them still, why she was not left behind on the ship like she was supposed to.

The two leaders finally settled into one of the largest depressions, smack in the middle of the room, the guards retreating behind at the surrounding walls -Kali assumed this particular crater belonged to the leader, given the much more groomed belongings within it, many pillows, cushions and pelts spread around a very short, round table with exotic foods on it. Lar'ja sat down with ease, cross-legged, by his sire, while Kali remained standing, sure that she wasn't supposed to settle within the -"Sit, sain'ja."

Again, she looked at her leader for permission, but the male ignored her completely, so she assumed she could do as told by another. Quietly, she stepped inside and settled down, keeping her distance from both Ci'tde and Lar'ja on each side. The three began chattering amongst themselves, fast and relentless, beginning with the whole transport plan and branching into remembering tales of their old adventures. Nothing that was important enough for her to listen in, so she let her gaze wander.

From her position, she could see a few human females pouring drinks for other warriors, a group of them braiding their hair while keeping their eyes on her, and some male humans taking her in discretely, or what they thought was discrete. The yautja in the room barely spared them a glance, with the exception of two female yautja that eyed the three males she was sitting with, probably having half a mind to challenge them, what with so many pheromones in the air. They weren't warriors, by the flawless hides and unadorned tresses, so Kali felt safe. She fought large yautja females before, with and without training and she fared quite well, therefore, one trying to stir something with her could be dealt with swiftly.

Her gaze then settled on a male yautja, quite carefully tending to a female human that looked positively with suckling. Kali's attention remained on the duo for quite a while, her expression baffled at how naturally they behaved with each other and more importantly, wondering if that pup could possibly be the result of a relation with her companion. That was impossible, wasn't it though? It was crazy to even think that such a thing was -

Suddenly, Lar'ja roared and made to lurch forward, but was shoved back by his sire's strong arm. "Not for breeding," Za'jo grumbled, keeping his firstborn from trying anything reckless that could plunge the clans into war. What? Breeding? Did they want to have him breed with some yautja female in this clan? She wasn't complaining.

"Sain'ja? Want strong pups?" why was Ci'tde asking her about Lar'ja's strong pups, or the probability of them? She tilted her head to the side, not understanding what was happening and feeling as if she missed something from their conversation.

"Sei-i?"

Lar'ja snarled at her, mandibles outstretched and eyes wide, pupils dilated. Ci'tde leaned back into the furs and pillows, watching her bemusedly. Her clan leader's eyes bored over her as well, unfazed. What was happening? "Why ask about Lar'ja's pups?" she finally worked up the courage to ask, earning a trill from the clan leader.

"Not Lar'ja pups, Sain'ja pups." he explained, mandibles clicking rapidly to show his amusement. She couldn't understand. "I can't have pups," the female retorted, puzzled by the whole fiasco, brows furrowing together behind her mask.

"Not yautja pups, ooman pups," he supplied again, sitting up, leaning his elbows on his knees and tilting his head in her direction mirthfully. Pieces fell into place and she understood what was going on. She had been brought up into the conversation, offered to be mounted by a human male, as they were plenty on this clan ship, which also made her realize why she was sitting here right now. Was this why Lar'ja got so angry back on the ship? Well, now the cat was out of the bag and she said it out loud for Lar'ja to hear it as well, she couldn't have pups with a yautja, as the healer had said when she hit her prime, so now she was waiting for him to take back his courting mojo and let her be bred by some human male this clan leader was offering.

How could she back away from this? "H'ko." the word slipped her mouth before she could stop herself. Was she part of this exchange? Za'jo said not for breeding, but perhaps the plan was for her to meet the human male before making a decision. No human male was worthy of her, however. Ci'tde bristled, but didn't say anything, simply watched her closely, thoughtfully. Lar'ja seemed to have calmed down just a bit -no wonder he got so riled up, she straight-up insulted him by saying yes, brushing off the acceptance she had given him.

"Not for breeding. Meeting, yes, but ooman decides. Honored warrior has mating rights," her clan leader made it all clear now and she felt almost nauseous. Mentally, she cussed herself for not having paid attention. Ci'tde glanced at his hunt brother and then back at her, before huffing his agreement to the terms. "Aseigan!" the old leader roared after a moment of silence. Scampering towards them was a chubby female human, who bowed as soon as she reached them, far enough to be respectful. "Bring Warkha."

Who was Warkha?

Well, Warkha was a male human, an elite human male, actually, born on this clan ship to a slave and raised among them, as Ci'tde told them, specifically her, probably trying to make her understand that his genes were strong. And oh boy, was he right. Warkha was as big as a yautja, full of muscles, with a tanned complexion, strong jaw and fearless blue eyes. Not like her ice blues, but a blue that reminded her of oceans. His hair was in thick dreads, adorned with rings that spoke of his prowess and hunts, that and the many scars that littered his body, dressed in elite attire, made her swallow hard. Needless to say, the moment he fixed his gaze on her, Kali felt a shiver run down her spine.

Oh, Paya, what was with this perfect male specimen? Thankfully, she had her mask on, so he couldn't see her gawking, but Lar'ja bristled terribly at her body language and her heat signature going haywire. Kali didn't even realize she had shifted uncomfortably and brushed her own tresses aside as if to make herself more presentable,more appealing, until she noticed the intense gazes of the males stuck on her. Ci'tde was having a field day with this as one of his best warriors, a human male, sat by him and watched his hunt brother's own human warrior become flustered, if the heat coursing through her body was anything to go by. The firstborn was getting aggressive, chuffing and making himself seem bigger in the face of a possible threat.

By the way the young one reacted at the suggestion of a breeding between the two human warriors, Ci'tde understood that the female was being courted by him, intentions made clearer with how he was behaving. "Warkha very honorable, strong, worthy mate. Has mating rights as well, rutted some of our females. No pups, however, not compatible, as healers say."

Made sense why they wanted to mate him with her.

Perhaps this was an opportunity, a way to continue her legacy after all, have pups of her own. Was it what she wanted, though? No. She was not ready for something like this. No matter how worthy this warrior was, no matter how good it sounded, a suckling was not what she needed or wanted now.

"H'ko. I reject this proposal."

Lar'ja calmed down considerably, his eyes burning into her masked face. Warkha, however, bristled in exchange, jaw set and muscles tensing. Like a lioness, Kali's frame also became steely in response to the hostility the warrior presented, ready to pounce.

He wasn't going to do anything, was he? -suddenly, the human male shot up on one knee and reached across, shoving her shoulder back hard enough to make her bare her teeth behind the mask and anchor herself as to not be budge. He just issued a challenge because he felt insulted by her rejection. Granted, she didn't even give him a chance to prove himself, but that was her decision to make and his obligation to respect it.

Like a chain of consequences, Lar'ja bolted up in the same manner, roaring at the bold human male, but Za'jo was there to shove him down with a vicious snarl. Yautja in the hall turned their attention to the commotion, while Ci'tde grunted in displeasure. Technically, Warkha was not a rival, therefore, the female was going to handle this confrontation alone, as the code dictated, and they were chirping and chattering in unbridled curiosity.

As if not even acknowledging the yautja firstborn's warning, Warkha reached out this time with the intent to grab and bruise, but Kali wasn't having it. Swiftly, she caught his wrist, pulled him forward with unexpected strength and slammed her elbow down on his arm, breaking the bone with a sickening crack. Warkha bellowed in surprise and jerked back, standing up this time. Kali'adah followed suit, bending her knees and growling menacingly at the audacity from the male of her own species.

How dare he issue a challenge so blatantly just because she rejected him? A female's wishes should be respected and a male should have more honor.

Was this his way of showing her what she was losing? Because he stopped being appealing as soon as he clashed against her own desires. They circled each other, both stepping out of the crater and taking space outside it, servants and yautja alike making way.

And then he lunged at her.

Wasn't it ironic how two humans were fighting like the wild yautja? With that thought in mind, she slammed her foot right into his stomach, in a roundhouse kick, rising up to his dare just as fiercely. His broken arm was limp by his side, so he could only grab her with one, of which she took advantage and lunged after him when he doubled over, not having expected or seen her hit coming. Her back slid by his unusable arm and her elbow smacked into his chest, her armor acting as an enhancer to an already powerful blow, effectively knocking his breath out. One step back, spine against his chest, her arms encircled his neck without giving him any time to recover and using all her muscles, bending her knees to remain stable, she flipped his whole weight over her head, one arm shifting with the momentum as he crashed into the ground, another crack from his back as the testament of the force used to bring him down.

Quickly, she placed her knee on his throat, pressing hard, one hand in his tresses yanking his head to the side, the other twisting his good arm at an angle that was sure to break bones into fragments.

"Concede!" she roared down at him, pressing her knee harder into his neck and slowly making the bones of his arm creak, threatening to dislocate it from his shoulder. As a female, she was trained to handle males in a frenzy, no matter how big they were. Her surrogate mother made sure to teach her techniques such as these that would put a mindless imbecile that let his ragecloud his mind, on his ass in two seconds flat. Elite or young blood, Kali was honorable and refused to be treated with so much disrespect.

In fact, she didn't know how much she was human and how much she was yautja when anger took root, but right now, she was a very pissed off yautja female and males should know better than to challenge a scorned one.

* * *

 **h'ko = no**  
 **aseigan = servant**  
 **sain'ja = warrior**  
 **sei-i = yes**  
 **H'ulij-bpe = crazy**  
 **N'jauka, mei'hswei = welcome, hunt brother**  
 **c'nlip = alcoholic beverage liked by yautja**

 **dybbuk = demon/devil**


	5. Chapter 5

**well, it's been a long ass time**

 **and i have no excuse, i just had writer's block, as one would say**

 **let me know what you think of this chapter please, i need to know if the direction i'm going is good or not!**

 **so please comment? that would be nice orz**

* * *

With the exchange done between the two clans, Kali'adah rejecting the other half of the proposal, Warkha humiliated in front of his peers and leader, and, consequently, Lar'ja standing tall and proud next to her in the aftermath, they embarked on the ship to leave.

Za'jo bid his hunt brother goodbye, shaking Ci'tde's shoulder vigorously.

Naturally, the human female was radiating with fury, even as they broke away from the Tu'jan clan's mothership and started their trek back to their own. There was more to this transaction and she had yet to be told about the bad blood hunt that Lar'ja had mentioned to her. They did have arbitrators on board too, so she still couldn't understand why they couldn't just take a ship by themselves and save the rest of them the hassle. Arbitrators were lonesome, very disciplined and could handle the haze of the mating season better than any male could, they were trained for that, had self-restraint that not even elders could exercise sometimes.

Clearly, the mothership going out of its way for this, was not a good idea.

The worst case scenario would be males killing each other and females slaughtering other females in challenges, turning their clan ship into a blood bath.

And Kali, while able to outsmart many males, didn't want to even imagine having to deal with the moment their mind got clouded by pheromones. At this, she clenched her hands into fists atop the armrests of the pilot chair. Suddenly, the warmth of Lar'ja's proximity was becoming annoying and suffocating.

Barking an order at him to back off was not an option, at least, not with the clan leader on her other side.

R'ka was missing with the female that had joined them on this trek and the other two males sported fresh wounds, which could only mean that the former was rutting as the victor. Not like they could say anything or try to get some of their med-kit serum, they didn't want to look weak after the defeat.

What a bunch of idiots. For such an intelligent race, they sure had their stupid moments -in the form of two sulking mountains in the other available chairs behind her seat, staring solemnly into the distance and dripping blood on the platform.

Kali shook her head.

The rest of the journey was spent in silence, the clan leader eventually retreating to his wing of the shuttle and Lar'ja choosing to remain with her in the piloting area, minding his own business on his wrist computer. She didn't bother to look and see what exactly he was doing, but if she had to guess, it was probably just conversing with a fellow hunter on their mothership.

The huntress let her hand swipe lazily over the holo image of the ship, checking the sensors and the transport bay. Her expression fell into disgust when her eyes landed on the two dots that were pulsing in that location -sure enough, there was R'ka and the elite female that did absolutely nothing this whole journey. In fact, Kali could bet she didn't even lift a talon to help with the eggs or the extra fuel and metal they procured.

"Ugh…" she grunted without meaning to. In a second flat, the firstborn was at her side, tilting his head this way and that, trying to gauge what made her react so soundly. If she weren't used to these towering giants, she would have been startled by him. Instead, she merely lifted her ice cold gaze to lock eyes with him.

"What?"

"Sound you make,"

"It was nothing," she flushed, glaring away, and switched the holo images with a flick of her wrist, choosing to stop entertaining her malice towards the unworthy "Where are we going now that we have fuel?"

Lar'ja chuffed and rolled his shoulders. "Kv'var,"

"I know that, but...shouldn't the arbitrators handle this kv'var?"

"H'ko, too many,"

Oh. This time, she was the one searching his gaze. "How many?"

"Clan,"

"C'jit," she hissed, starting to feel agitated at the prospect. A clan of bad bloods on a planet? That could stretch from roughly 200 individuals to a whooping 1000 or more. Made sense why they wouldn't just send the arbitrators. "Only send elites?"

"Elite, honored and arbitrators," his lower mandibles spread open, showing interest in her reaction. Which was livid -yes, she hunted bad bloods sometimes, rare occasions, when the arbitrators were not available and her hunt group was the only one in the vicinity. It didn't mean they had it easy, in fact, bad bloods made her recoil, they were lawless, they were mad and power-hungry. Strayed from Paya's path -nothing to lose, no honor, nothing. And she was going to join this crazy hunt.

If one managed to kill half of her hunt group, then she didn't want to think what so many could accomplish. At some point in their lives, these bad bloods were warriors, some more experienced than others, that held high status. Imagine having to square up to one that used to be an elder or an arbitrator, as such cases were not that uncommon.

"Fear?" he reached out, one talon brushing her cheek. "H'ko. Weariness," she growled, smacking his hand away from her face.

The male did not like the way he was treated, by the way his scorching eyes fixed her afterwards. Despite that, he retreated from her side, with a clenched fist at his side and a blissfully ignorant ooman watching him go, satisfied.

...

Upon returning to the mothership, Lar'ja watched his soon-to-be conquest leave the dropship in exchange for her quarters, as she responded when he inquired, after his sire abandoned the docks area with the other hunters in tow. Her hips swayed and moved tantalizingly, the vision setting he chose for the whole journey providing quite a view of her muscled legs, the scars that adorned her exposed flesh and the most exotic part of her, the face.

The firstborn straightened his posture as the female mingled with the other yautja and disappeared from his sight. Seeing her so small and fearless amongst tall and powerful warriors made a light growl spring through his sternum, an instinct to protect, to whisk her away, to bend her over and bite into her, almost clouding his senses. This infatuation he had with her, as his clan leader called it, started long before their last hunt of this rotation. In fact, if he recalled it correctly, it began with her return from her chiva, when he was already an elite standing by the mentors in the welcoming party that greeted the new blooded of that generation.

That's when he saw her, small, lithe, quick, with so much astuteness in her eyes, holding her chin high and her trophies with pride, standing out from the few warriors left of her group. She had no fear, only confidence, pouring through the way she carried herself, the way she took them all in, the way she presented her win. She smelled like acid, vegetation, dirt and victory -and he was witness to her ascension as he took her scent in, committing it to memory.

She didn't know how his insides stirred with the prospect of challenge. At least, that is what he believed it was, the desire to rip her apart, she was prey, after all, prey living among his kind. And he watched her closely, like the apex predator that he was. Throughout celebrations, throughout hunts, the manner in which she sometimes would linger by the kehrite, how she would take on challengers with calm rage.

As if she wanted to engrave her role in their society. Make a stand or die trying.

But then it became different, it changed each time he saw, smelt or heard her.

Until he found himself stalking her on some of her hunts, as part of her hunt group. He blamed it on her exoticism, on the way she moved that provoked him at an instinctual level. Shameful as it was back then, he resumed to rutting females of his species in hopes that it would keep his mind as stimulated as she was able. None of it worked, mating cycle or not, in the fever of desire or not, it didn't change how he saw her.

He waited more, he pondered more than he should have, he behaved uninterested, if not straight out hostile...even if, he would admit the swell of pride he felt when she elevated her status in their society, became a honored warrior, joined successful hunts and brought back trophies that could put others of higher status to shame. With her new worth came her mating rights, something she didn't have before, as only sain'ja did -so more than ever before, his senses were completely focused on all the males that would even breathe her way, in aggression, in possessive mannerisms that drove curious gazes away, those like Marc'te's. It was the realization that another male could try to make her theirs that drove him to finally act on impulse and decide to court her -it was the way that pauk'de Marc'te watched her, how his interest showed through his change in scent.

His sire was outraged when the news had reached him, which was also why he wished for Kali'adah to join their meeting with the other clan, to show him how unworthy she was, how her nature was, how oomans were supposed to be treated, how she was going to be mated with one of her species.

"Rut her and be done with this foolishness! She can bear you no pups, she is beneath us. Paya was graceful with her through our matriarch, too graceful!" -were some of his choice wordings. His interest didn't wane, it only strengthened and it wasn't the heat implementing thoughts in his mind. By Paya, he could not wait for the mating celebration to begin as soon as they returned to their homeworld, where he could finally have her properly.

Truthfully, Lar'ja could not say if this infatuation was due to her differences or if it would go away after he would have had her, but he knew what he wanted and needed now.

Seeing yautja with ooman females on the other clan's ship made him bolder, made him feel like he wasn't the only fool in this universe that found a female of a different species appealing to the eye. There were others like him and that only encouraged him further.

"Let's go, mei'hswei," R'ka chittered as he passed him by, smelling like that female's musk all over, as was usual after a mating to display.

His mandibles flared outwards as he turned abruptly to look at his hunt brother, having paused on the ramp for far too long. He needed to focus his mind on the hunt, to emerge victorious and bring her worthy trophies at the celebration, gift her something that would make her dismiss all other males that might show interest in her at the ceremony.

Regardless, he would best them all if that would be the case and he would wear her scent with pride.

The bad blood situation had priority, however.

Some other honored warriors greeted them as soon as they entered the communal baths, having been in the middle of sharing some old tales of kainde amedha hunts. It became a habit to lounge within the hot waters of the shared pool after hunts or before them. Etas were responsible for keeping the place clean and full with bowls of naxa fruit, incense, oils and pelts for after the bathing, in fact, in their culture, it was somewhat of a place where they could come together, debate, tell stories and enjoy themselves.

Lar'ja alone was known to relish the extremely scorching water a bit too much for his own good, often preferring the location after training in the kehrite or just after a long, active cycle. R'ka was welcomed alongside him with firm shakes of their shoulders as soon as they undressed and entered the pool, which the males returned in kind, joining the conversation and taking in the other company at the far corner.

There were five females soaking there, chittering and turning to watch them intensely. Their musk was easy to remark, even with all the fog and incense, and it riled up the males around him, all five of them, including his mei'hswei. Despite this, Lar'ja made no effort to puff out his chest or show interest like them, he merely began a topic he was genuinely curious about. "What is the location of the pauk'de ic'jit agaj'ya?"

R'ka, as if snapped from his trance, cocked his head to the side, clicking his lower mandibles at his friend. "Game preserve planet, Etna 02, three cycles away," he responded, albeit, a bit reluctantly "You have not received the data?"

Lar'ja chuffed, remembering he had messed with some of the wrist computer's wires, as it became faulty after the last hunt of the rotation, when it came in contact with water from a swamp he had stalked through.

It wasn't often that a mothership was ordered by the matriarch to participate in such a large hunt, normally they would be debriefed before the event, but this was not normal, was it? He himself had only heard of one such hunts and memory of events from hundreds of rotations ago escaped him as he was unblooded then. R'ka was more in tune with the protocols when it came to such events, so he made a mental note to check the data once he retired to his quarters.

Instead of saying something, the male simply gave his companion a curt nod and leaned back against the ledge of the pool, relaxing his muscles. He didn't want to seem too ignorant or dismissive in regard to the mission, especially in front of other warriors, even if he knew that their minds were anywhere but on the hunt at this moment in time.

Another topic was started and by the end of their soak, three of the males ended up challenging some of the females in the corner. Lar'ja took that as his cue to leave.

...

As soon as the next cycle began, after a long slumber in his nest, the large yautja was busy overlooking the transforming of the d'lex in the lowest levels of the mothership, by the eta metal workers. The weapons and armor they were making were courtesy of the clan leader's graciousness, a last gift for the warriors that would march into battle with the bad blood clan, due in just two cycles.

For those that would pass, it would be a honorable death and the weapons would help them in facing Cetanu and Paya.

With him, arbitrator Ye'sta, was procuring his combi stick from being repaired, as it fractured in the last mission he had been on. He had said that he managed to put it off as much as it was possible, until this moment when he knew he needed the trusty javelin.

"Cetanu will welcome many of our warriors this hunt," he rumbled, deep in thought as he watched the etas forging armor in the scorching fires of the ship's belly.

"Sei-i," Lar'ja found himself agreeing. But it would be through honorable means, by bringing a clan of criminals to justice. "I fear there is more to this than a simple purge of their kin," the arbitrator added, pulling his mandibles tight against his face.

The firstborn turned his head to look at the red-brown male, inquiring with the click of his tusks.

"There has been a report that an ooman colony had settled there a few rotations back, I cannot help but wonder if they are still there or if they have been killed," he continued, prompted by Lar'ja's chirr.

At the new information, the elite growled deep in his chest. "They have been left alone as they posed no threat, not warriors, not bad bloods, only groups of sires, bearers and pups, the scout said,"

"Does Za'jo know of this?"

"Sei-i. He was the one that decided to do nothing and leave them to their own devices," Ye'sta replied, a soft, almost inaudible keen leaving his throat at the prospect of pups and bearers being killed mercilessly. Their code of honor prohibited such heinous acts, even punished them through exile -yet, they couldn't sympathize with the situation either, they could only wipe out the bad bloods that committed the acts.

Oomans were emotional creatures, Lar'ja knew, from his many encounters with their warriors and primitive weapons. With yautja, it was different, emotions did not come like a river, they came more like a kicked pebble here and there, if he were to make a comparison. They felt, but to their core, they were not empathizers.

"We will see when we reach the game preserve," he grumbled with finality, unwilling to go further into a topic that had been intentionally kept from the rest of them. Besides, there was still another stop that they had to make before that, and Lar'ja was the kind of male that would solve a problem once faced with it.

Ye'sta, however, had to intone what really haunted him, and, consequently, the reason for his information splurge. "I say this because I have a request for you, firstborn,"

With a snort, Lar'ja turned his head away, tendrils slapping his shoulders at the aggressive motion. "H'ko," he hissed immediately, knowing full well what was coming. He was anything but foolish and the arbitrator, no matter how he tried to hide his intentions, did not deceive him.

"Not interested in your request, dhi'rauta kha'bj-te,"

There was silence and tension between the two males, only the clash of metal filling in the heavy air. "Very well. Payas leitjin-de Hma'mi'de, kv'var-de,"

Lar'ja did not budge, even as the other yautja left. He would not be part of these games.

...

"We are making a stop by the Intera Market?" Kali asked incredulously, Jac'in and Amelia sitting in the mess hall across from her. It wasn't usual for the female to bring the human servant along, choosing to hide her away in her quarters, but this was something the two didn't want to miss out on.

The Intera Market was built in the mined-out husk of a metallic asteroid, turned into the biggest marketplace in the galaxy, where you could find virtually anything. Usually, the mothership lingered by it only once in a rotation, allowing the hunters to descent with the dropships and get whatever they wanted from there.

It was mostly through exchange, though. Yautja being hunters, one could imagine the rare things they came across or had in their possession, so when the mothership did come by, they were very welcomed, greeted from the docking bay by goons sent as courtesy by the space station's governing, a small council of three different alien species .

In this place, where trading is the only law, many species of aliens took root, you could see almost all kinds of creatures, from all kinds of planets. The yautja, among them, were the most feared and respected, though, which is why they always got the best deals. Nobody wanted to anger a yautja.

"Sei-i," Jac'in confirmed, sparing a glance to her human lover. Amelia giggled in turn, her eyes joyful at the prospect. "I can finally get new sandals? And...can I also have a new dress?" she tugged on the bicep of the huntress, a loving expression on her face.

In return, Jac'in pressed her great forehead against the servant's, mandibles relaxed.

"You don't have to ask," she purred out, unusually affectionate. Kali watched the small intimate moment uncomfortably, mainly because she didn't see her hunt sister this...touchy before. Granted, it must be the heat, the pheromones and the approaching breeding season.

Their sizes were so odd that some would find it laughable, if the rapid clicking of witnesses at the display was anything to go by. The gargantuan yautja female and the small, fragile human woman.

It sure did garner unwanted attention as males passed by them.

While the Tu'jan clan was tolerating, even indulging in their ooman pets, the Etei clan was still coming to terms with having an ooman hunter among them. Losing a strong, fertile, yautja female to an ooman weakling….was not something they wanted to see broadcasted in public like this.

Amelia didn't know, she couldn't know, but Jac'in should know better. Kali'adah made eye contact with the female when she pulled away from her small lover, an unvoiced advice in her gaze, which the huntress huffed at and let a rumbled click reverberate, much to the servant's confusion.

"Jac'in, what is wrong?" her eyes jumped from one huntress to the other, brows furrowed. Kali felt bad for what she did, but it was for their own good, she told herself as she left their table and the mess hall altogether.

If they were stopping by the planetoid, then she might as well grab some items in case of an exchange. You never knew what you could find there.

From exotic pets, to weapons, slaves, substances, foods, incense, jewelry, down to objects only found on other planets and ship parts.

Last time, she made a trade for what Amelia called a brush, to untangle her hair. And she had to admit it was far better than using that bone comb she had carved for herself.

As she walked through hallways, moving through the calves-high fog permeating the floors of the ship, she noticed how riled up the other hunters were, an excitement in the air she didn't feel before. Perhaps it was because of the hunt that was nearing, a chance to bring down bad bloods and take their heads as trophies -those were the gifts that would impress females as well, their sense of honor. They were loud and obnoxious, beating their chests and collecting their things from their quarters for the Intera Market.

For some, she realized, it would be their last good time in this life.

Maybe that was why they made this abrupt decision to pass by the odd space station, as one last moment of peace. She snorted, what a gracious clan leader they had.

* * *

 **Kv'var=hunt**

 **h'ko=no**

 **c'jit=shit**

 **pauk'de=fucking**

 **mei'hswei=brother/hunt brother**

 **pauk'de ic'jit agaj'ya=fucking shit realm**

 **dhi'rauta kha'bj-te=cunning maniac**

 **Payas leitjin-de Hma'mi'de, kv'var-de=remember the gods' practice, hunter**


	6. Chapter 6

**hello hello again, dear readers, here's an update!**

 **pls pls pls leave me reviews, i love to read feedback, keeps me motivated!**

 **without further ado : italic = english, normal = yautja language, bold = everything else**

* * *

The marketplace did not change at all, she concluded upon her first steps down the ramp and onto the docking bay's platform. It was the same hustle and bustle as always, creatures from across the universe coming and going, each in shapes, sizes and colors she's never seen anywhere else.

As the yautja from the dropship she had been on fanned out, you could tell the other creatures became wary, cowering and avoiding their path altogether.

Unlatching the mask from her face, Kali'adah took to the many elevators upwards to the planetoid's surface, ignoring completely the imp-like thing that chittered after her, their supposedly welcoming party.

Colossal, winding bridges connected the areas together, bathed in some sort of artificial light that mimicked a sun, offering its residents more than enough to go about and grow their own crops. Judging by the many fruits of all ranges and edges of the galaxy on display, she assumed that it had been a good harvesting this rotation.

Tall, dark buildings rose up like spikes from the ground, large and imposing, designed for those that lived there or wished to stay a while, acting as inns for guests.

In complete contrast to the dark, towering giants, her human vision allowed her to experience the colorful garments and shops she passed by, each leaving her with a small semblance of a smile on her face. It wasn't often she had time to indulge herself in simple things such as walking with species different than her own, interacting with exotic beings one couldn't even imagine existed.

She paused here and there, checking merchandise, carpets, seasonings, hair ornaments and more.

With a satchel of luxurious pelts on her person, along with necklaces carved from bone by her own hand, the huntress was set for a few good deals. She would need to unwind, considering the events of the past cycles. That, and she needed to get herself together for the hunt that was to come.

The little unvoiced argument with Jac'in didn't help either.

Amelia was ooman, more ooman than she could understand, despite living among those of the Etei clan for the past six rotations of her life. She was a good one, Kali could admit to that and she formed a strange friendship with the other woman, acknowledging how she would try to cling to her, because she shared her species, so the familiarity gave her peace of mind.

But she was only an eta, if even that. She held no rank, no right to be with Jac'in, who was a very sought after warrior, an incredible hunter with a high rank.

It could spell her death. In the throes of heat, a male could simply slit her open. Servants were nothing to a blooded warrior, even an unblooded. Her status meant nothing, she meant nothing.

Displaying herself like that was asking for it. The yautja female knew that very well.

And that's what irritated Kali the most. She didn't want to have to step over Amelia's body in the hallway of the mothership, she didn't want to see how affected Jac'in would get, even if they both knew attachment was not their way of life.

Perhaps they were both somewhat damaged, imperfect in the path, perhaps that's what brought them together.

In this instance, Kali'adah could say that she was more yautja than her friend, as the passing of Amelia would probably bother her for exactly a cycle or so before she moved on. It was normal for friends to come and go, she learned that on her chiva, when one of the yautja females she was comfortable around and enjoyed the company of, ended up torn to pieces by the kainde amedha queen.

Loss was usual. Detachment came easily for the human huntress, as it should.

 **"Ig la blonh k'rak'va?"**

What? She turned her head abruptly to the side, long dark braids spilling around at the motion, and came face to chest with a tall creature sporting four burly arms, four glowing white eyes and a very furry body. It was naked, except for the cloth draped around its waist to cover whatever modesty it had.

Right. The translator.

She raised her wrist computer to her eyes and activated the chip embedded into her brain from when she was just a suckling, with the role to translate the languages of the galaxy for her to understand.

When she made eye contact with the creature again, it bared its teeth at her, prompting her to flex her arm and let the wrist blades slide out in warning. Seeing this, it backed away and waved its hands in front of its face. **"Woah woah there, I just wanted to know if you needed help,"** the voice was distinctly male. Ah, so it was simply a vendor.

Tilting her head to the side, she retracted her blades, expression void of any emotion.

He must have grinned and she misunderstood. It wasn't the first time it happened. Usually, showing teeth in yautja culture was a sign of aggression, and, while she was used to seeing ooman aseigan do that to each other on homeworld, Amelia doing it to her, and, sometimes, even catching herself in reflective surfaces, witnessing it from another was making her instincts spike up.

When he saw that she sported no more deadly blades, his many eyes took her in from head to toe. **"So what is with the get-up, human? You a yautjan pet or something? Don't see many of your kind around here,"**

A deep growl reverberated from her chest, not unlike that of a yautja and she rolled her shoulders, showing aggression. The hair on the male rose in response, but he made no move to cower, so she took a step closer. Her pupils shrunk, face twisted in a snarl and she rattled in her throat, openly hostile, warningly.

Finally, the alien conceded, shoulders sagging and body becoming smaller in stature.

Satisfied, Kali'adah shoved past him, knocking him aside with little effort.

She missed, however, how the creature watched her go, pupiless eyes narrowing at her retreating form. It wouldn't charge, she was confident in that, none of them would try anything at the sight of her armor.

Fortunately enough, she realized as she stopped by a tent with all kinds of daggers, Lar'ja has been scarce last cycle and this one. Hopefully, it would remain this way.

The metal of the intricately made blades seemed too fragile for her liking. They were sharp, but too delicate and easy to bend. During hunts you needed quality weapons, not excuses for one, because that could dictate your fate, either dine with the gods or succumb to Cetanu.

Puffing out air through her nostrils, the huntress moved on, uninterested in the vendors that shouted their merchandise to make the passerby interested. It was an amalgamation of different languages and intonations, inflections and growls, which seemed to harmonize the further you got lost in the sea of creatures crowding the streets.

Her destination changed and she took to the more empty windings of roads and narrow passageways, until she came upon the spot she wanted.

It was a good view, away from the noise, where she came every time they happened upon the Intera Market asteroid. From this point, you could see the stretch of buildings and colors and lights, all the way across, the air felt cleaner here and she could hear distant commotion becoming only background noise as she closed her eyes and inhaled.

This is where she accidentally ended up on her first time coming to this place, got lost from the others she was trying to remain in the proximity of and found this little spot. Now, every time they did come here, she would return, again and again.

Problems seemed far away now, the hunt as well. The heaviness on her heart became a little lighter and she exhaled. It felt like the older she got, the more her ooman body and mind became burdens to the path she chose.

It was rare that a hunter had a moment of peace anyway. Unless she was with her bearer on the homeworld, she hadn't known what serenity felt like. Jac'in's actions crept up on her like a pauking kainde amedha on the prowl, however, and the female rattled in frustration.

A light gasp from behind her made her whip around on the intruder, blades out and a snarl curling her upper lip.

The culprit, she realized, was an ooman pup, dirty and malnourished, sporting only a rugged covering over their body and...holding one of the pelts from her satchel. A thief? One that stole from her? Kali'adah clicked in confusion, her throat constricting as the sound came out, forcing the small one to take a few steps back.

 _"I didn't mean to!"_ it squealed, turning around and running off. Her instinct was to follow, body putting itself into motion, thoughts running through her mind as her sandals kicked off dirt with her sprint after the little pup. That vendor from before said that there weren't many of her kind here, so what were the chances of a pup of all things to wander around like that, pick-pocketing?

This language it used sounded familiar, perhaps the ooman tongue that Amelia used sometimes, or the recordings from other hunters' masks she has heard before while on a hunt? She's preyed upon oomans before, those on the game preserves that had been chosen and deposited there, worthy to be challenging, but that was all. Besides, she wasn't interested in a language that would confirm her heritage, she rejected that, she rejected anything to do with other oomans.

No matter.

The Intera Market was known for the slave trafficking, therefore, it would have been normal for her to see grown adult oomans in their prime. Not a pup. Pups were restricted, it was highly criticised and frowned upon.

Its little feet carried it through roads that got narrow, between towers, over unknown areas to her and finally, to a crossroads of sorts, where the little one just disappeared.

The huntress skidded to a halt and looked around, her head moving in a staccato, listening for the light footsteps, trying to catch the scent or track with her vision. Without turning her face, her head tilted slightly to her left, where a pair of heavy hoofs came closer, then to her right, confident footfalls stringing along. From behind her, a shadow casted over the ground until it reached her feet, while her front was covered by the silhouette of none other than the vendor from before.

She rattled into her chest.

The thing had the pup by its neck, making it whimper as he came forth and stopped a few good noks away from her. **"There she is, told ya guys she's a keeper. If we sell her to the cage, we'll get a pretty sum, live like kings,"** the male snickered, shoving the little one away **"Good job kid, bringin' her to us, you got yourself a warm meal for tonight,"**

The kid stumbled off at first, before giving her an apologetic look and running off to hide behind a corner.

The cage, as they referred it to, was a fighting rink, where strong slaves were made to fight until death, bidders putting large sums of chips or precious objects on their heads. It held no honor, no sense, no purpose, other than the entertainment of greedy owners.

"S'yuit-de zabin," she lowered her head, cracking her neck to the side as she bent her knees. All were armed, hostile, their intent clear by the scent that wafted over her "Dtai'k-dte sa-de nav'g-kon dtain'aun bpide," she cackled menacingly, a sound so chilling that it made the creature's hair stand on end.

 **"Fuck you, bitch! Get her!"**

They all came at her at once. Her senses sharpened, muscles jumping in excitement. With effortless strain, she leaped back, having felt the one behind her closer than all the others. Calculating the exact location of the arachni alien -she had discovered the species it belonged to as she back flipped over its head- the evasion of its claw-like arms was easy. In one fluid motion, as soon as her feet touched the ground, ankles together, her wristblades struck its back like lightning, coming out on the other side.

Releasing a venomous screech, she lifted the spasming thing off the ground and hurled it to the side, where it crumpled into a wall, dead and leaking its blue blood.

The sudden kill had the other three stop in their tracks and watch the show in bewilderment. Kali'adah, however, merely chittered in amusement and fixed them with her ice cold gaze, sliding her dirty blades over her shoulder to get rid of the blood, but also to paint herself with her first fallen prey.

"M-di h'chak,"

This time, she was the one that came for them, the large hooved alien trying to catch her in a roundhouse swing of a large hammer. At the last second, she slid to her knees, under his legs and behind him, before she slammed her back into his to put him off balance, side-stepped, grabbed his neck when he stumbled forward and snapped it to the side, killing him instantly. One of the other goons was rushing to her stupidly, so she used the same heavy corpse and swung around it, before pushing the heavy body onto the unexpecting lizard-looking alien.

The weight of its peer had him fall under, as it was lanky and weak, struggling to push the dead hooved idiot off. But before he could do that, she was already at his side, impaling him on the same blades, just under his ribs. With a cruel sneer, she twisted them, causing a howl of pain to pour out of its maw.

"Tarei hsan, m-di yin'tekai," she hissed, finally yanking her weapon out and allowing the two bodies to fall in the dirt, entangled. The vendor from before, coward as he was, had already taken a few steps back, fur ruffled and eyes large.

 **"I want to live! I apologize!"** he squealed when she approached, gaze locked on him and blades dripping blood at her side **"I can give you anything you want! Please have mercy! I don't wanna die!"**

He had thrown his weapon aside, which was simply a knife. How pathetic.

That didn't stop her from closing in on him, growling gravely in her throat, until he was cowering into the wall of a building, the same one the pup was hiding behind and panting with fright at what it just witnessed.

 **"Please, please have mercy!"**

She was a nok away from his face as she snarled and raised her wristblades. A deafening roar came forth from her mouth, making the alien crumple on his knees and cover his head as it screamed.

But the final blow never came, instead, she chittered amused, laughing at his expense.

He was not worthy to become her prey. Her gaze moved to the little thing trembling just at the corner, frozen to its spot. Confidently, she straightened up, slid her blades back with a flex of her bicep and turned to it in one fluid motion.

The poor thing had peed itself.

Expression softening, like it usually did when she interacted with pups and sucklings, she stepped closer to it, extending a clawed hand out and changing her tonality to a continuous purr that was meant to calm the small one.

 _"Take. Hand."_ she struggled, in the tongue Amelia used often, trying to see if it was something familiar to it. The words rolled hard, stumbled, felt filthy in her mouth, but given the situation, she could make a very very small exception.

When the pup jumped in reaction, she knew her assumptions were right. _"Safe. Come."_ she placed her other hand on her breast plate, letting it know she was safety and it should trust her.

There was no doubt in her mind that what she was doing was right, there was no questioning her actions, nothing. It came naturally to want to take this pup away from this place.

Again, she beckoned it, smiling softly, controlling her facial muscles to show no threat.

This time, the small one sniffled and nodded its head, reaching out with a little shivering hand and placing it into hers. She breathed her relief and grasped its fingers, pulling it to her gently and looking it over for any wounds.

When she was satisfied, she glanced back at the vendor that had meanwhile fainted and decided that it was due to return to the mothership, with a new addition.

And by the time she reached the dockingbay, where the drop-ship was, she had wrapped one of the pelts she meant to exchange, around the pup's shoulders and traded ornaments for a few pieces of fruit to fill his belly -she learned on the way that it was male.

They were the first inside, and she made sure to sign for him to keep quiet as she settled into the seat and easily pulled him on her lap. She saw this behavior with bearers and their sucklings, it was a manner of comfort and security, not like any yautja would try to harm a pup for no good reason with a female around at that.

He tried to speak in the ooman tongue, but she quickly placed two fingers on his mouth and shook her head. "H'ko,"

Water still sprinkling his eyelashes, the little whelp nodded, just as the dropship started to fill with yautja. The curious clicks and tilts of the heads, the way they looked over her and the pup didn't go unnoticed by the small one, but she made sure to keep him close to her and for a warning growl to rise at the warriors that halted to look for too long.

Finally, when the shuttle started thrumming, she shifted the child in her lap and wrapped the belts around them both. She instinctively wanted him to be safe.

As for what she was going to do once they docked, she didn't know. She hadn't planned that far ahead...but she knew the controversy that would meet her once she showed up with an ooman pup on her hand.

...

"And you just took the pup?"

"Sei-i,"

The moment she walked the halls of the mothership with a child in her arms, no less, Amelia and Jac'in were the first to meet her halfway. The servant took the boy from her arms and started talking to him in his tongue, soothing the weeping pup, while the yautja female ushered them all into her own quarters, clearly agitated.

By now, the child was sleeping in their nest, covered in pelts, belly full and clean from the bath he took, courtesy of the female ooman.

While Kali and her hunt sister were discussing, Amelia was stroking the boy's hair affectionately on the edge of the bed. "He was taken from his home. By the worthless cowards," she clicked her tusks together, watching her lover caring for him.

"It is getting worse. The takings, especially from N'ithya," the brunette chittered venomously, folding her arms over her breastplate.

"M-di yin'tekai,"

"Sei-i,"

Feeling like this was an opportunity to speak to Jac'in seriously, she looked up at her "Jac'in, I must apologize for earlier-" but the female raised a hand to signal her to stop "It is I that must do so. I understand, mei-jadhi,"

And that was a relief for Kali'adah.

"I believe it would be best for the pup to remain with us, Amelia knows his tongue and Lar'ja…" she spread her mandibles and glanced down at her hunt sister "If he smells the scent of another male, be it pup or not, he will become hostile. It is not his, therefore, it should not be yours," she explained dully.

She didn't even realize the risk she took by getting the little pup away from the market, but now all of her being became alight with furious embarrassment and worry.

It was often that she saw yautja males snarling at male pups that were not their own, especially when they wanted to court a certain female and they were still with their bearer. There had been a case or two of a male yautja slaughtering a pup in the throes of the mating season -he was killed shortly by the bearer, nevertheless. And while no such cases have been heard of since then, the open aggressiveness was still there. It had been so long ago that laws against it were put in place, yet instinct could always overtake the mind of a warrior when their very culture was based on it and around it.

Kali'adah bowed her head in acknowledgment. Truth be told, the pup was indeed safer with a female yautja than it was with herself, the logical outcome was clear. Besides, with the hunt fast approaching, a cycle standing between them and probable death, having Amelia look out for the whelp was the best path to take.

"I will meet you on the hunt, mei-jadhi," both huntresses shook each other's shoulder in farewell and the intruding female left the quarters in favor of her own.

Only to find a very bitter yautja at her door, waiting impatiently.

* * *

 **eta/aseigan = servant/slave**

 **nok = unit of measurement (equivalent to around 13 inches)**

 **S'yuit-de zabin = pathetic insect**

 **Dtai'k-dte sa-de nav'g-kon dtain'aun bpide, = the fight that begun would not end until the end**

 **M-di h'chak = no mercy**

 **Tarei hsan, m-di yin'tekai = unworthy opponent, no honor**

 **h'ko = no**

 **sei-i = yes**

 **N'ithya = earth**

 **mei-jadhi = hunt sister**


	7. Chapter 7

**hey my dudes! i'm here with an update!**

 **hope you'll enjoy! make sure you comment to let me know your thoughts**

 **i absolutely loved the reviews i got last time and they motivated me greatly to begin writing this chapter**

 **so pls keep it up? orz without further ado, here you are!**

* * *

The tension was thick. Something changed in the way he was watching her.

Body aware in a manner that made her skin prickle, Kali'adah halted at least forty noks away from the towering male, sharp blue eyes roaming over the way his muscles coiled underneath the dark blue leather-like flesh.

His mandibles spread and his forked, long, thin tongue tasted the air, her scent, through sharp fangs. The long tresses, adorned with his victories and trials, didn't even move, didn't even ripple with how still he was.

For just a second, she realized how different they were, how scary his kind could be, how unsettling it felt in her stomach to be fixed with simmering gaze like prey, ancient, buried-away instincts making themselves known in her body as she felt a rush to run, to survive; battling with the learned ones, to stand and brave it as she was taught. She quickly reminded herself that she was one of them, that she shouldn't feel the nauseous pit in her belly.

Instead of cowering, she stood tall, shoulders back, chest forward, chin up, eyes on his, respect be damned. She felt disrespected by his presence here right now, at her door of all places.

The little spines around his crown stood on end, brows furrowing deeply and terrifying molten gold eyes fixed on her, taking in the blood on her body, the sign of a battle she had won. Deep in his chest, he rattled, approaching her with slow, predatory steps. He was hostile, she could feel it. He was looking for a fight, for a provocation, for something that she wasn't willing to give.

When he was finally a nok away from her, he scented her properly, lowering his head to take in her smell at the neck. In response, she growled in warning. That was a vulnerable spot. A snarl followed suit when he didn't pull away and she lurched back from him violently, roaring.

His pupils dilated and he spread his arms, retaliating with a howl that put her to shame and made her hiss, turn her head and avoid his eyes. He was still a rank above her, female or not.

"Brought ooman, male ooman," he chirred, as he straightened up, like he was battling with the instinct to tear into her.

"Pup. Ooman pup, taken from his home, by honoreless thieves," she spat, a new burning in her eyes that made him chitter in irritation. Her submission had not been lived long, much to his chagrin.

"Will grow,"

Oh, by Paya, he was pissing her off. How did he find out so fast anyway? Well, she did walk the corridors with the pup by the hand, many hunters having witnessed it. Clearly, it was only a matter of time until the information reached him, given his status and the many hunters that were looking to just make a jab, throw some words to rile him up, especially now that he chose to court her, an ooman of all things.

Yautja were cruel like that. They weren't afraid to speak up, or make fun of one another in the most childish of ways.

"And?" she cocked an eyebrow without even meaning to, a sign of mockery that he took seriously and came at her, getting into her face with sharp tusks close to her eyes and a clawed hand that shot up to grab her chin menacingly.

"Will want to mate you,"

What? He was being ridiculous. Why would that happen?

More importantly, why was he so bothered by it? With an incredulous huff, she smacked his hand off her face and glared up at him heatedly. "What's it to you, Lar'ja? He will not be grown for at least several rotations!"

He jerked his head comically, making his tresses clink together. "H'ko,"

No? No what? "Sei-i!" she shouted back, baffled by this whole encounter. He turned around briskly, his shoulders flexing with tension, hands clenching and unclenching, as if he was trying his hardest not to react.

Finally, he left with a snort and no explanation.

Kali'adah remained there, speechless and staring dumbly after the male even when he disappeared from her sight.

What was _that_ about?

...

She didn't get much sleep, her heart kept pounding at the prospect of meeting Cetanu. The chances of returning from this hunt were half in her favor, half in the dark warrior's favor. All in all, the odds were not stacked against her, but they weren't with her either.

When the summoning happened, the dreaded clinking of her wrist computer, she had to physically force herself to put her armor on. She felt sick to the stomach, as if she were marching to her death willingly. It never happened before, so she remained slow as she prepared, minding her state and waiting in case she felt like regurgitating.

Breathing in and out steadily, she leaned on a wall, bringing her hand up to level with her eyes only to see her fingers trembling.

Right. This was no good.

"Pauk…"

After some more time, when she got herself under control, she strapped her weapons onto her worn-out 'awu'asa and left her quarters.

As expected, hundreds of warriors walked the corridors in silent, organized rows towards the dropships located many floors down into the mothership. Kali'adah joined one of the rows, as it didn't matter where she ended up, she would still be under the command of a higher in rank.

That's how big hunts were handled when it came to dangerous prey, kainde amedha extirpations or something of this ilk. Each elite had three hunt groups under their supervision, each hunt group was led by a honored warrior, which only answered to the elite in charge.

In the previous hunt, she had a few blooded warriors under her care, those that came to the same dropship after herself. Three hunt groups, hers, Marc'te's and another one's, answered to Lar'ja.

It didn't mean she had to watch them like a bearer would their suckling, she only had to maintain communication through the mask, watch their heartbeats and give them instructions in case they ran into trouble that did not involve the hunt. She was responsible for the reports that came afterwards in case some of them did not return, however.

The duties were clear and the positioning of each group always determined by the elites at the landing of the dropships.

Once inside the shuttle bay, after a long annoying ride into the lift among towering giants sniffing and chirping, Kali marched forward onto the docking bridge, her eyes roaming over the available ships in waiting. Jac'in was ten ships away, on the ramp, but it appeared she already filled the available space. The door to her shuttle closed behind her retreating form, while the ooman huntress watched with apprehension.

It took her too long to get ready.

R'ka's ship also pulled up its ramp. Lar'ja's next to him, as well, the male not even acknowledging her standing by and taking in the surroundings.

"Come, sain'ja!" the voice coming from her left made her furrow her brows as she turned to regard the one it belonged to, quickly discovering it was one of their arbitrators, Ye'sta, giving her an expecting look. His dropship had not been filled yet, so she made the decision quite fast and walked up the ramp, as to not irk the yautja.

Upon passing through the entrance and by the code of honor's protector, she placed her mask over her face and took a seat, mingling with the wrist computer to sync it with the other systems of the shuttle and the warriors present -including her hunt brother, Marc'te, she noticed with open hostility towards the wandering gaze of the male. This time, instead of an elite, an arbitrator would lead the group. She had none in her care, which meant she only had to pay attention to the arbitrator without checking on anyone else.

Each hunter knew the role he or she played, there was no need for encouraging speeches as they departed from the mothership, no need for reminding of the mission, the intricacies of the hunt or the information on their foes.

No unnecessary complications.

As soon as they touched ground, rendering their shuttles invisible using the same technology that offered them coverage through the snug netting against their bodies, the warriors marched outside eerily quiet, prepared for the inevitable, adjusting their armor and weapons, while Ye'sta synced his computer with the rest of them, sending them the necessary information.

Among them, Kali'adah stood stiff, watching as most of them checked the holo image of the terrain, the location where the bad blood clan was supposedly located and the location of the other groups.

Their area was between the north and the west, the terrain looked tricky, therefore, the right way to go was through the trees. Her analyzing gaze roamed the distance, stopping through the dense jungle that surrounded them. They landed by a large river, in the clearing where a waterfall spilled into the deep blue waters, masking both their sounds and smell. The atmosphere was alright, it was obvious that the bad bloods had looked for a planet with the same breathable air and usable soil as the homeworld, or as close as they could get.

"We move as one," Ye'sta suddenly drawled out next to her, his mask angled down at her. She bristled at the proximity, but nodded curtly and strode up behind the group of warriors with the same rank as her, Marc'te giving her a trill of amusement when she joined his side.

"Don't die, ooman,"

"Ell-osde' pauk." she growled out menacingly at the male, making his tresses stand up at the ends against his crown.

Needless to say, the leaf-green yautja remained without retort as the arbitrator signed for the hunt to begin. Kali'adah bared her teeth at him before springing into the jungle at the same time as the other honored.

It was time to empty her mind and focus.

...

Muscles tensed, the flora was so still that even a sigh could be heard, she realized with controlled breaths. Sweat trickled down her back as she stood perched on a thick branch, observing the tracks underneath, on the extremely dry ground. She used her mask to zoom in, making sure that what she was seeing was real.

Red blood.

But no maimed body nearby.

The cloaked hunters around her seemed to find this as unsettling as she did, by the way they flared in color. In response, Kali'adah turned to the shape of Ye'sta, seeing him looking directly at her from the tree across. It was a wild guess, but red blood meant high intake of oxygen, or at least, more than what was present on Yaut Prime and this planet. The reason why Kali had no problem with the air was that she developed on the home planet, from her infancy, nonetheless, and even when she did have problems, her bearer made them all go away, so she could grow like any normal suckling.

It still didn't explain red blood, ooman blood, here of all places.

Etna 02 was not known to harbor her species, it was used very rarely for chivas and maybe it was because it lay abandoned to space that this clan of bad bloods managed to go undetected for so long.

Green blood was also splattered over leaves, which made it a struggle on both sides then, the sign of battle riling up the hunters more.

Ye'sta signaled to move further, there was no use standing by idly. She slid back, stuck the claws of her sandals into the black bark of the tree and leaned over, one hand holding a branch and the other bracing her for a leap.

When suddenly, a large explosion not far from their location made the ground shake.

"C'jit," her eyes widened behind her mask and she slammed her back to the trunk as a tsunami of dust and wind crashed through the foliage as an aftershock.

All hunters did the same, holding tight onto what they could.

Unfortunately, because she wasn't holding onto anything, per say, she was blown off the sturdy branch, her weight meager compared to that of a yautja. With a startled hiss, she scratched at the bark, when a clawed hand shot out and caught her forearm tightly, pulling her up and holding her to a stiff chest.

Leaf-green flesh, feral grip. Marc'te. She held onto his arm regardless, until it was over and she could stand on her own.

The roars that followed, accompanied by blood-curdling wails in the distance, was a clear sign of what was happening and she had no time to think about her hunt brother's actions. They had been found out and they barely even got here in the first place.

"Move!" Ye'sta's battle cry had them all jerking into action.

Her muscles coiled as she quickly activated her shoulder cannon and flexed her arm, letting out the wrist blades. Marc'te chittered next to her, before leaping onto another branch, turning to glance back at her.

Time was of the essence.

With a huff, she followed suit, in a hurried frenzy alongside him, jumping, leaping, diving through the canopy, over fallen tree trunks and rivulets, the footfalls of her fellow warriors as the only reminder that she was not alone, the group spreading around her in a hunting formation meant to take down the vilest of prey.

* * *

 **nok = unit of measurement (13 inches)**

 **h'ko = no**

 **sei-i = yes**

 **pauk = fuck**

 **c'jit = shit**

 **ell-osde' pauk = fuck you**

 **sain'ja = warrior**

 **'awu'asa = armor**


	8. Chapter 8

**hey guys! an update to this story was due a long time ago, i know**

 **but i can't upload as often as i'd like to, not with the job taking most of my time and some personal stuff going on in my life right now**

 **i hope you guys will understand and be patient with the updates orz thank you**

 ***ps: feedback helps with this process, as they motivate me to write, so don't be shy and drop me some reviews!i love hearing from my readers, if there are any of you left!**

* * *

She had never been in a war of any sort. She never knew war, only the hunt; even though, the yautja had been in several along the millions of rotations they had as a species. Their history was vast, lush and full of tales scribbled by ancients. She had been privy to those, in the form of anecdotes told by her surrogate-mother, she was such a passionate story-teller that her infancy had been filled with myths and legends and great battles; that had always been her favorite way to pass the time. So, as a pup, she had not seen war, she had only her imagination to serve her in the pursuit of seeing with her mind's eye.

But if this wasn't it, then she didn't know what it was.

Blood painted the ground in vicious entangles of weapons and limbs.

And among it all, there was an ooman female with child, huddled away in the bark of a humongous tree, clearly trying to hide. It appeared that Jac'in's pack found a band of badbloods in the forest, or the other way around, chasing a few humans that tripped some kind of land mines and were blown to bits, with the exception of the aforementioned female crying in distress while covering her swollen belly.

 _Or the other way around, the bad bloods found them first, perhaps even the humans ran into them and the two sides clashed._ Kali'adah had no time to ask questions, she was simply thrust into battle, taking down the first bad blood she laid eyes on by throwing one of her chakrams and slashing his head clean off his shoulders. Marc'te roared next to her, charging in with his wrist blades out, followed closely by the others of their pack.

Ice blues took in the open field, finding the yautja female holding off three males at a time, sporting deep wounds, but not as bad as her adversaries. Jac'in was a seasoned warrior, by Paya, she was going to be fine. Just then, said female picked one of the males up effortlessly and hurled him over the other two's heads.

Taking that as a good sign, the human sprung into the chaos, retrieving her blade by yanking it out of the tree trunk where it had stopped after its slaughter, fresh green blood coating it generously. Almost immediately, she was colliding with the serrated blade of another bad blood trying to cut into her from behind, besting him in a matter of minutes and impaling her wrist blades through his eye, killing him instantly as his luminescent vital fluid dirtied her mask's cheek. What a good for nothing whelp, weak and pathetic.

She roared, disgusted by how dirty these bad bloods were fighting, there was no honor in attacking from the back.

More fell under her wrath, her 'awu'asa earning new dents and her flesh new scars. All by herself she made progress on the battlefield, amongst her kin, she felt like she belonged, slashing and tearing down the traitors relentlessly. She would bring Sir'ai pride in the form of trophies, showcasing her prowess once again.

The thought only served as fuel on her path, and then, in the heat of warriors colliding, she heard a high pitched ringing. A signal -what was it for? Flashing blue eye visors snapped to the pregnant ooman female who was no longer there. Did it have anything to do with -

"Pauk'de lou-dte kale!"

Before her masked face could turn to look at the one who had cried that in her direction, she was slammed into and sent crashing through foliage, outside of the clearing, where she tumbled into the trunk of a tree, the crack of her back making the female grunt in pain. The chakrams she had been holding in her hands had been knocked away on impact, rendering her vulnerable until her mind caught up with her body.

Her vision blurred momentarily, the nerves struck in a way that had her frame tremble with the aftershocks, her bare palms in the dirt as she tried to get her bearings, shaking her head in an attempt to stop the buzzing in her ears.

Surely that was no yautja.

Focusing her breathing into controlled inhales, Kali looked up towards the parting flora that slowly revealed the culprit. A large carnivorous -judging by the razor sharp teeth made to tear into meat -bipedal reptile, claws twitching as it held its front limbs close to its chest, beady eyes slitting to see her better when it approached and a vicious looking yautja male riding atop it. The creature's head was a skeletal dome structure, probably meant for attack that could break bones, which explained the force that threw her off her feet.

"Smell like yautja, move like yautja, but not yautja," the bad blood sneered, kicking the animal to close the distance in slow strides.

Instead of responding to the provocation, Kali'adah snorted and crouched, trying to determine if anything was broken and what the right course of action could be. This male could take her on no problem, especially with the creature at his disposal. His rank was unknown, as her mask stats showed over her visor, no number, no chip to scan, nothing.

She growled low in her throat, displeased. Perhaps he cut it out. He looked like a matured hunter if she went by the scars on his body. "More yautja than you," she finally retorted, muscles tensing, ready to move as she watched him intently.

The most unexpected thing happened, however. In spite of the insult, he only huffed and climbed off the reptilian creature, his bare feet against the floor of the forest making her jerk back with a warning snarl.

"Calm, female," he ordered, commandeering, as if he was in a position of authority. The tone did nothing to calm Kali though, she switched between sights, heart beat spiking up when he made a step closer and she finally saw him in her human vision. Big, burly, dark red like the sands of Yaut Prime's deserts, eyes like lava, dreads oily black, slithering down to his waist, cinched with only a loincloth and decorative skulls draped over the V of his hips.

Another step.

Her breathing came in faster, rising on her haunches. "Join my clan, sain'ja, there is use for you," he purred, another step closer. That did it.

She lunged.

Her wrist blades emerged to meet his own as she leaped out at him like an angry feline ready to tear down prey, the sound of metal against metal ringing through the noise of battle in the distance. With a terrifying roar, he swung her back, making her skid a few noks into the dirt before lurching back at him, clashing their blades again.

How dare this bad blood suggest such a traitorous act to her?! She bared her teeth behind the mask and the sharp edge of her wrist weapon, pushing with all her might against him, until her muscles trembled. "Ell-osde' pauk!" her blade slipped against his, the sound deafening as she forced him to follow the motion and leave himself open. The moment their blades lost contact, her leg came at his side in a powerful kick that pushed him back enough to stun him.

Another kick, aimed at his torso, had the male grunt and double over "Meet Cetanu, pauk'de zazin!" the next hit came with her wrist blade, meant to sever the tendons of his neck, but they only managed to impale his arm when he blocked and used the momentum to throw her off in a tumbling crash.

"Ki'cte!" he roared out, crouched, arms spread on each side.

This time, when she was about to crawl back to her feet, he gave her no space, he was onto her like a predator, a punch in the back of her neck slamming her down in the dirt again. She gasped with the impact. His hand bounded around her braided hair and yanked her up, before throwing her into a tree trunk with all his might.

Breath left her lungs, static buzzed in her ears, vision darkened at the corners and she could hear her own heart beating fast, blood rushing.

There was no reprieve. His hand came around her throat and pulled her up above the ground, slamming the back of her head against the solid wood she crashed into. Again. And again.

 _And again._

"C'jit-" blood splattered, skin broke. Her legs kicked out, hands clawing at his wrist uselessly.

She was a goner wasn't she? Consciousness barely held on by a thread -until, until a force knocked her assailant to the side and she was dropped to the taste of earth in her mouth. She barely realized she no longer had her mask on. Her head was fuzzy, she took lungfuls of air, wheezing as she struggled to crawl and look at what was happening.

A roar, familiar. Green. Marc'te?

Kali'adah grappled with losing focus as she sought to find her bearings, slowly, blinking, shaking her head, inhaling and exhaling fast. Blood suddenly splashed across the greenery underneath her fingers, luminous, green blood, making her gaze snap to the side, where she saw her hunt brother's frame standing with some effort, while the other yautja was not in sight.

She lost the battle soon after, seeing the leaf green calves of Marc'te advance towards her and darkness took over.

...

When she awoke next, she was atop a sturdy, large branch, high up in one of the goliath trees that grew on this planet, the big wide leaves, able to cover a fully grown yautja, serving as shroud from both rain and predators.

The gentle drizzle, dripping against said leaves, helped with bringing her to reality soothingly.

And the warmth of the body she was huddled against, did not go unnoticed as her vision adjusted to the darkness surrounding the jungle of the game preserve. Muscles ached, like the aftermath of a hunt that took too many cycles of observing, running and stalking.

The chest she was resting on rose and fell with the breathing of its owner, the scent of rain, mud and something familiar mingling together. Lazily, she blinked. Once. Twice, a few more times, until she was certain this was not a dream. The chill in the air was real, making her skin prickle.

"Awake?"

Undoubtedly, it was Marc'te, by the inflection in his speech. She grunted in affirmative, prompting the male to shift slightly as she uncoiled, limbs numb. Her mouth was dry, so when she managed to lift her head, she refrained from speaking, throat scratchy.

He looked as bad as she had imagined, one missing tusk, a broken arm, a deep wound on his side from wristblades, judging by the two punctures that bled through. He at least had the common sense to dress it up and apply the medical gel over it so he didn't bleed to death like a fool.

His bronze eyes met hers and held her gaze in slow blinks, until she had had enough and chose to inspect their surroundings. The tree they were situated on was high enough to give them complete camouflage from the outside, rain, potential threats and unwanted attention not a bother while they remained here. A large leaf above them had gathered water from the pour, the surplus dribbling down on both sides in slithering rivulets.

"Where?" she trilled, shifting against his side until she was sitting up, using his bent knee as leverage. "North. Safe," he drawled out after a moment in which he simply analyzed her.

The huntress' eyes narrowed, "Others? Where is the pack? Arbitrator Ye'sta?" she asked quickly, bristling. "With Cetanu. The rest, retreat," he growled, his head moving so that he glowered at a point far away, letting her know she was not the subject of the irritation in his tone.

They were defeated? Yautja did not retreat. Unless - "New orders?" she questioned further, tilting her head to the side and remembering the sound she had heard.

"Sei-i,"

Immediately, she rose her arm to access her wrist computer, only to realize it was damaged and she was missing her mask. Inquisitive blues searched his face, only to be met with his own damaged wrist computer and broken mask.

"C'jit!"

"C'jit."

The male slowly slid up against the trunk, at the base of the wide branch, where he dangled both legs over the sides, allowing her space to sit properly as well. Kali'adah mimicked his position and rubbed her neck, where that bad blood held her up. She tried to think of what to do in such a situation, hissing when her digits ran over a sore patch of skin.

A taloned hand reached out, so quietly that she almost missed it, and brushed the flesh of her collarbone, curiously and uncharacteristically gently for a big, bulky hunter. It stunned her into freezing completely still, aquamarines fixing him with a warning bare of her teeth.

"Hurt?"

The instinct to fight melted back into her tired muscles and she settled back, pushing his hand away with one of hers. "H'ko," and she had to remind herself how, once, those same hands tried to kill her in the kherite, how viciously those same eyes watched her, with the intent to destroy her.

"Maybe we can use components from both wrist computers to fix one," she suggested, glancing away with a furrow of her brow.

A second later, a wrist computer the size of her shin smacked her in the face.

And a cocky yautja trilled amused at the flare in temperature from her body, suggesting embarrassment and anger.

...

The four moons up in the pitch black sky offered enough light for the human female to work diligently on the intricacies of both their wrist computers. While she was busy with tinkering, Marc'te kept vigil. Because their devices had been damaged, their masks were rendered unusable and their cloaking technology ceased to work. Not like she had hers, anyway.

Kali'adah had been creative enough to use the items found in the med-kit incorporated into their armor, where their combi-stick also resided, at their back. While crude, the improvisation worked, she just needed time to figure out what needed stitching and make it into one wrist computer that they could use to at least track the rest of their comrades, along with finding out what their new orders were. Surely some ooman female could not be the reason. Besides, maybe she was just lost on this world, a bunch of lost travelers, stranded on this planet. Oomans could go through space now too, so it wasn't a stretch, was it?

"Do you think they found something worth changing our directives?"

Her sudden question had the yautja male's head snap in her direction. Instructions didn't change for nothing, something must have happened, something must have been uncovered that required them to regroup and take a different approach to the initial 'slaughter the bad blood clan' command they had. Something that she hoped, had nothing to do with finding ooman blood or an ooman female with child. Sure, their honor code said that they were not to hunt down females with pups, but it didn't say anything about looking after him like they were their responsibility. Yeah, Kali knew for sure this was not it, it couldn't be, it was too...worthless.

"Sei-i," came his simple reply.

The huntress grunted, aiming her gaze back at the wires beneath his wrist computer. His was less damaged and she salvaged some parts of hers to make up for it.

"We are almost out of medical gel. I hope this is worth it," she trilled, with a tonality that betrayed her irritation.

When the wrist computer came to life, blue light bathing her face, the male was quick to move closer across from her, his mandibles spread in surprise. "Learned tricks from engineers?" his gruff voice inquired, tilting his head to the side. Her cheeky expression, the way her face lit up with color, said enough. Embarrassed as she was, pride overtook the previous emotion and the female shifted, puffing out her chest and holding her chin up.

"Sei-i. Even from fools you can learn something valuable," she answered, absentmindedly smiling, an ooman gesture that she quit in a second when she realized she was doing it.

Their gazes met and she felt a lurch in her stomach at how intense his stare was.

Something primal flashed through his orbs, something that made her heart leap and her muscles to tense, something like Lar'ja.

"Let's find the others," she broke his spell, making him bristle but click his mandibles together in agreement. "Do you want to wear it?" she gestured to his arm, offering the gauntlet to him. The yautja took it without any other word and slipped it over his large forearm. It immediately tightened, altering its size so that it fit the wearer and lit up, syncing with his chip and his vital signs.

Talons pressed over it and a holographic map suddenly took form in blue shapes, a red triangle showing the location of the others and displaying their new directives in the yautjan language.

Kali'adah leaned closer to him, but before she could read it, he snatched his arm away and the image blinked out. "What? Why?" she made to grab his gauntlet, but he growled at her in warning.

"Follow."

What? Why didn't he let her read it? What was he hiding? Scowling, the female chose to let this go until they were with their own. She would find out everything she needed to know as soon as she found Jac'in. For now, they had a long trek to the camp their pack set up all the way over the mountain in the east. There was a sacrificial altar there, if her memory served her right, where they used to put animals and kainde amedha eggs for chivas.

Considering chivas haven't happened on this planet in a very long time, she was sure that nothing was there, other than a location where they could regroup and go over the new instructions, which often came from Yaut Prime.

"Let's go, then. By sunset we should arrive, otherwise, they will hunt us. They know we have spread about like headless urloks," Kali remarked, sitting straight and bringing her legs into a crouch.

And the simple fact was, she didn't want to die on this forsaken planet, gutted by a bad blood of all things. That would be insulting. To her and to her surrogate mother.

* * *

 **'awu'asa = armor**

 **Pauk'de lou-dte kale! = fucking child-bearer!**

 **sain'ja = warrior**

 **Ell-osde' pauk! = fuck you!**

 **pauk'de zazin = fucking bastard**

 **cetanu/paya = yautjan deities of death/life**

 **Ki'cte! = enough!**

 **C'jit = shit**

 **Sei-i = yes**

 **urloks = birds native to Yaut Prime, similar to hens**


	9. Chapter 9

**an update from yours truly! i hope you'll enjoy this one!**

 **leave your feedback to keep me going. the replies to the previous ones are at the end. thank you!**

* * *

The warmth that rose from the jungle floor was akin the communal baths on the mothership. A lot of steam rising through the damp, humid air, which made Kali'adah sweat profusely and for grime, dirt and all things nasty to cling to her like she were a large magnet.

While she was uncomfortable and displeased, she pushed forth, behind Marc'te, following in his steps exactly and keeping her eyes sharp on anything amiss.

It didn't help that said yautja was leaving that stupid, stinking mating scent everywhere either.

There was a faint sound in the distance and even when the green hunter took a few steps through the foliage, the huntress remained unmoved, her head snapping towards the source.

Ice blue orbs darted around her, before settling on a sure path through the large trunks of the giant trees growing on the game preserve. Sensing her pause, her hunt brother halted and turned his whole body to look in her direction, his cracked mask hiding some of his features, but by the way he tilted his head, she understood that he was inquiring about her abrupt stop.

"Ju'dha," she trilled simply, gaze returning towards the direction and head angling up to sniff the air.

"H'ko, we move," he drawled, turning his back to her disrespectfully, in an attempt to finish this negotiation before it escalated.

However, that only made her hackles raise. "Sei-i. Ju'dha," she took bold steps towards him just as he whipped around in case she wanted to attack and puffed out his chest "H'dui'se. Yours. Everywhere," she bared her teeth at him, unwilling to even take another step into the jungle without bathing off the scents that made them easily trackable. The spines around his crown rose, mandibles pulled in tight together.

A few tense moments passed, until the male growled deep in his chest, prompting Kali to lift her chin up in dare.

"Nracha-dte sain'ja,"

In response, said warrior took a few steps back before showing her back to him, a respectful, polite retreat, towards the direction of the water source.

What she heard was actually a river, deep enough to come to her neck, which would facilitate a decent scrub of all the worst that stuck to her flesh. It was also a good moment to check for any open wounds, as an infection could prove deadly and humiliating for a hunter of her rank. That way only fools die.

There was a rock formation on the side, where the water was lower, to her knees and she discarded every piece of armor and cloth she had on, resting them against the side of a flat, large boulder.

Marc'te followed her lead after he surveyed the surroundings and began taking off piece after piece of his own armor, the dressing of his wound as well. Which meant he was going to re-do all of that afterwards. That was fine, they were ahead of time anyway.

Naked, exposed to the elements, the huntress slowly walked into the cold waters, river stones against her bare soles the deeper she went. How odd that it was so freezing, making her pause and hiss in delight at how it bit into her scorching skin and sore muscles.

A ripple, heavy feet splashing the water with purpose, right behind her.

Kali'adah turned in time to watch the male, completely bare to her eyes, descend after her, his mask off and bronze gaze stuck on her with a hunger she couldn't understand. The primal side of her forced her to back up, go deeper in, until the water completely enveloped her breasts and collarbones. Feeling conscious about one's body was not something yautja did. They didn't care about being bare, they mated in public and leaving it all out was never something she felt vulnerable about. Until now, that is.

Every step he took, the closer he got, her stomach would twist and her breath would quicken.

His scent was everywhere around her, making her inevitably inhale it when his abdominal muscles pressed against her ribs and her breasts, just under his chest, were crushed against his leathery skin, so much like that of a reptile. His heat was encompassing, the smell around him making her slightly dizzy with how strong it was -and it wasn't even unpleasant, it felt exotic, like a fruit she once had at one of the feasts of the Matriarch on Yaut Prime. If that fruit was ripe and ready to be devoured.

Oh, she wanted so bad to sink her claws into it.

His head lowered and his tongue slithered out to taste the air, then the flesh of her neck, where he took her scent as his tusks scraped down the column of her throat. When did she even expose her neck to him? She didn't even realize her head had lolled back with a sigh, or that he began purring to coax her to him. She shivered and his calloused hand grasped tightly at her hip, bringing her pelvis flush against his cloaca, where his hardening member emerged against her, so impossibly hot even under such cold waters.

Pauk. What was she doing? With Marc'te nonetheless! Talons trailed her flesh, pressed her harder against him, her hands laying flat against his pectorals, feeling the thrum vibrate under her fingertips with the continuous sound he was making, like a ship's engine. Her breathing came heavy as she fought to focus. Then the memory of that ooman female, discarded in the middle of the market place, mangled, after a rut, flashed before her eyes. Pupils shrunk, the huntress growled suddenly and shoved herself back, away from him, her legs kicking the water enough to force distance between them.

Taken aback, he retained a defensive stance in an instant, weary of her now, sound gone, warmth gone, only the hunter staring back at her, ready to fight her, to rip and tear.

She knew what he was trying to do.

There were no available yautja females so he was trying to rut with her, just to get rid of the need. Tough luck, then. Panting, she sneered at him. "H'ko!" she would not become some useful, warm place for his dick while they were stranded. Never.

Just the thought felt vile on her tongue and in her mind and in retaliation, she smacked the water surface towards him, splashing him whole with the freezing temperature as she hissed spitefully at his grunt of discomfort.

"Scrub off the smell," as she snarled this at him, she swam further away, only to let herself sink into the depths of the river, kneeling and holding her breath so she could soak properly and get her stupid mind to focus on the important matters at hand.

When she broke surface, Marc'te was already making his way to the shore, completely wet and sparing her a glance and a huff, clearly angry about her rejection. She wasn't happy with what he pulled either. What did he think this was? An invitation to fuck her out of boredom? Consider her scorned.

...

Thankfully, the trek through the dense, lush jungle began again, the fog that rose above ground proving to be no obstacle. She kept her distance from him, this time. Merely followed where he led, since there was no reason to get them lost. He wanted to get to their camp as bad as she did, if only to get some rutting done with some female there -even though, Kali painfully realized, he probably tried that with her because she was a weaker target in his eyes, small, easy to subdue in the throes of mating by her size and strength.

And while it ached to know that, she didn't blame him, she was simply irritated that he tried that in the midst of all this.

His pace was brisk, fast, urgent, which made their journey harder for her. With their longer legs and near limitless stamina, it was no surprise she couldn't keep up endlessly, pausing ever so often to take in their position and drink water from the flask at her hip. She never used it before to this extent, almost feeling humiliated when she had to, ashamed that she had to, but as biology had it, her kind needed to hydrate, otherwise she would be useless. Yautja, they could go for a very long time without nourishment or water, they were built that way, with stomach that stored for later and used bits and pieces when energy was lowest.

And she envied them for how flawless they appeared in her eyes. Making her aspire to become like them, even if...that was a foolish suckling's desire.

The red suns high above made her squint against the light as she shielded her eyes with a hand.

Not yet sunset and they were close. They only needed to climb the side of the mountain, go around the lake at the base and they would find the sacrificial chambers. Marc'te clicked his mandibles together, having turned to look at her, a chirping sound coming from behind his mask. He was treading carefully now, using softer sounds as to not risk her ire. As if that would be possible. Female yautja could kill a male easily, but her? Well, she certainly could try, but the odds were never in her favor.

There had been no incidents so far and she couldn't feel like they'd been tracked, neither did her hunt brother, therefore, she wanted to keep it that way. Without any word, she moved forth, past him, having already pinpointed a good path to take.

Because the terrain was steep, they chose to use the trees instead, leaping from branch to branch, as they were all sturdy and thick enough to hold them easily.

Ooman fatigue began settling into her muscles little by little. And Kali'adah was frustrated by how her stomach demanded sustenance and how her legs would quiver every once in a while, missing the landing once when her leg simply gave out and Marc'te had to arch back to catch her by the elbow.

"Need rest?"

"H'ko!" she had hissed as soon as she was back on her feet, crouching to make the grumbles of her stomach fade as she pressed both hands against it. How humiliating. When she hunted, she made sure to always eat from her prey after she took her trophy, it's how she kept herself in peak shape. She took small breaks, in which she simply stalked or observed from afar, had short naps, the kind that rested her eyes but kept her conscious enough in case of predators lurking by. Now? It had been a while since she slept properly, and the back of her skull throbbed something fierce, she had nothing to eat for three cycles now and her body was beginning to fail her.

She was literally a burden to her hunt brother, keeping him back from reaching the camp sooner.

Just before she was about to ask him to go on without her, the male crouched in front of her, with his back turned and arms backwards, signaling for her to get on. "H'ko!" -that was out of the question. It was humiliating, insulting, embarrassing! Marc'te turned his head back, his tresses snapping over his shoulders as he snarled "Ki'cte! Get on, nracha-dte mei-jadhi," and he made himself clear that he wasn't going to negotiate this. His mandibles flared at her, showing how irritated he was already.

He also, never called her hunt sister before. Since the moment they trained together for their chiva, he simply refused to call her anything other than human or in the most respectful way he could, warrior. Never acknowledging her as part of his hunt pack.

Heat rising to her face and neck, Kali cooperated for once and slowly, so slowly, wrapped her arms around his shoulders, just as he rose up and grabbed at her thighs, to force her legs around his waist. Every ounce of him was muscle, his back tense, flesh undulating under her chest, his musk still present but much subtler than before. While she felt like a helpless pup being carried around like this, prompting her to hide her face into the strap of his breastplate at his back, where it normally connected with the medkit pack and the combi stick's sheath. A quick glance at his hip made her realize he moved the whole contraption there, where it hung over the side of his thigh.

When he began moving, it felt incredibly different from her own pace, fast, sharp, strong. Every leap felt effortless on his part, every time his talons would sink into bark, felt natural, like he was already born with the muscle memory that allowed him such feats. His whole body moved in tandem with his mind, she could feel, and everything he did was completely and utterly raw, innate and instinctive. While _her_ body moved like it was taught, against the tide, every action forced by what she knew had to be right. Nothing came so easily to her. Nothing.

She was feeling sick to her stomach, bitter and sick.

When they reached the lake, he let her slide off his back and sit in the red-green grass, watching the ripples on the water surface. Mar'cte checked his wrist computer again, looking over the terrain, the direction to go in next, before his head angled down at her, making her look up at him. Was he checking her through the mask?

"Sick," he grunted, finally, right before she could ask "Weak vital signs," he added, with a click and a trill.

That made it clearer. It wasn't just her body failing her for nothing, her health was going to shit as well. She groaned and leaned forward, rubbing her face with both of her hands, pressing against her temples and between her eyebrows.

"We must get to the camp. Suns are almost setting," she stated simply, taking a deep breath and moving to get up. From now on, the terrain was flat, safe, so she could walk on her own, but the male lingered a bit longer, before turning to lead the way again.

Suddenly, static buzzed all around them and in response, Marc'te stood tense, a step back, covering her. Four yautja warriors dropped their camouflage in a large circle pattern, surrounding them and making her bristle at how easily they snuck up on the both of them.

Marc'te relaxed, however and she realized quickly that they were hult'ah, set to watch the perimeter and signal back the camp in case of threats. More importantly, they were from the clan, they were on their side.

A breath of relief left Kali's lips.

The camp, just as she assumed, was not far away, and it was right next to the sacrificial chambers. What threw her off was the fact that there were yurts rose all around the area, varying in sizes, where hunters took shelter. Surely they didn't build these, it looked like they'd been there a long time before.

Flanked by two of the hult'ah, both her and her hunt brother were greeted by Ye'sta, the arbitrator and by the grave look that furrowed his brow, she knew that he did not have good news to share with them.

"Sain'ja, Marc'te, I am content that you made it,"

What was happening? Lar'ja came behind the arbitrator, from one of the yurts, sporting a new scar across his hip, fresh green and when his eyes met hers, she felt as if all air had been sucked out of her lungs. "Sain'ja is sick. Needs sustenance," the green yautja stepped forward, with a drawled out retort that made both the other males fix him with their gazes.

Kali herself was taken aback by how boldly her hunt brother intervened.

"Marc'te, I am well," she quickly trilled by his side, a hand instinctively reaching out to touch his bicep. It only took that to have the firstborn roar and level up with the daring male, mandibles spread and chest puffed out, ready to pounce. At the abrupt reaction, she let go and took a step back, eyes widened by how aggressive Lar'ja became.

And how dare he? After the whole ooman pup incident on the mothership too!

In submission, the green yautja lowered his head and eyes. Ye'sta having had enough of all this, came between the two with a warning snarl.

"There is no time for such foolishness! I will see to the well being of the female myself,"

The younger males both made to retreat, with Marc'te being the first to do so, and Lar'ja stubbornly lingering behind, catching her eyes and bristling noticeably. "Firstborn!" the reprimanding growl of the arbitrator snapped him out and he turned away with a huff, finally leaving.

"Follow me, sain'ja,"

* * *

 **Ju'dha = water**

 **H'dui'se = yautja musk**

 **H'ko/ Sei-i = no/yes**

 **Nracha-dte sain'ja = relentless warrior**

 **Ki'cte, nracha-dte mei-jadhi = enough, relentless hunt sister**

 **pauk = fuck**

 **hult'ah = observer/watcher**

 **REVIEWS**

equipagan : **thank you so much for this review. i'm truly happy that i managed to do this, i do try my best to keep things as realistic as i can, and i try to develop characters with flaws and their own stories. i do like to build up on what i can, i want people to feel like they can empathize with characters and understand choices they make orz** **there is still a lot i want to bring in for them as a culture as well! hope you enjoyed this chapter too!**

 **Arbitrator11 :** **i'm so sorry it takes me so long orz hopefully this time it wasn't so bad, haha. your reviews really had me going, to be honest! i'm also glad to know that i'm keeping a tight leash on the yautja as a species, their ways and the differences, it's something i always keep going over, to re-do or re-write because i'm worried it might do them no justice. that said, yes, everything will be explained in due time, you'll have to be patient, haha ; as fo the blue and green, hope you enjoyed the little rendezvous in this one! thank you for the review! it was a delight to read it~**

 ** Lovily2079 : here you go! a new chapter. hope you enjoy!**


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